Asia's most loved country receives over five million tourists under 30-day visa-free policy

By Hoang Phong March 10, 2025 | 07:32 pm PT

Tourists gather in front of a giant eagle sculpture at Eagle Square on Langkawi Island, Malaysia, 2018. Photo by Reuters

Over four million tourists from China and a million from India arrived in Malaysia in the first year the Southeast Asian country implemented a 30-day visa-free policy.

A total of 4.1 million Chinese citizens had entered Malaysia from December 2023, when the visa-free policy was launched, to December last year, The Star reported.

There were 1.4 million arrivals from India within the same period.

Malaysia and Thailand were the only two Southeast Asian countries to apply visa-free policy for Chinese and Indian tourists.

"This measure was able to generate revenue for the country and ensured that Malaysia remains as a main player in several sectors such as investment, trade and tourism on the international stage," Malaysia's Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture said in a parliamentary written reply dated March 5.

"This goes to show that the visa-free policy for countries with potential had helped to spur the arrival of tourists to Malaysia," it added.

Thanks to positive effect from the visa-free policy, Malaysia decided to extend visa waivers for Chinese and Indian tourists to 2026.

Malaysia, named Asia's "most loved" country in 2024 by American finance website Insider Monkey, received 38 million visitor arrivals in 2024, including 13 million excursionists, marking a 31.1% year-on-year increase, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said.