China’s expanding visa-free ‘circle of friends’ draws more global travelers

Tourists take pictures of the Palace Museum from Jingshan Park on a sunny day in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 12, 2024. (Photo: Xinhua)

With China's increasing efforts in promoting unilateral visa exemptions and mutual visa-free policies, the expanding visa-free "circle of friends" has been drawing more foreign travelers to China, according to recent official data.

Border inspection agencies in Shanghai have inspected over 4.75 million inbound and outbound travelers and more than 30,000 vehicles at the Pudong and Hongqiao international airports as of Thursday since the start of July 1, thepaper.cn reported on Thursday.

From January 1 to Wednesday, the border inspection authority in Mohan, Southwest China's Yunnan Province has inspected over 1.66 million travelers from 101 countries and regions, according to media reports. The number of inspected travelers recorded a yearly increase of 81.32 percent, while the figure for their origins reached a year-on-year increase of 50.75 percent.

Among the inspected travelers in 2024, foreign visitors totaled 676,000, marking a year-on-year increase of 153.71 percent, with most of them coming from Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia.

China's National Immigration Administration (NIA) announced in July that the country's 144-hour visa-free transit policy has been expanded to three more entry ports, including Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in Central China's Henan Province, Lijiang Sanyi International Airport and the Mohan railway port in Yunnan, taking the number of Chinese ports covered by the policy to 37.

In the first half of 2024, China welcomed 14.64 million foreigners, a year-on-year increase of 152.7 percent. Among them, 8.54 million foreign visitors entered the country through visa exemption, recording an annual growth of 190.1 percent, according to data from the NIA.

While actively expanding the visa-free "circle of friends," Chinese authorities have also been implementing corresponding measures to facilitate the travel experience for foreign visitors.

The Hongqiao border inspection station has included the "Temporary Entry Card for Foreigners" for transit travelers, making customs clearance easier.

Earlier in August, China's State Council, the country's cabinet, issued a guideline to promote high-quality development of consumption in the services sector. China plans to further streamline border entry policies and enhance the consumption environment to expedite an increase in the number of flights, offer a variety of payment services, explore opportunities to expand the number of visa-free countries, and enhance cultural tourism year activities, according to the guideline.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have been implementing measures in recent months to streamline payment processes for overseas travelers through various means.

According to a recent survey conducted by Beijing Foreign Studies University, among 714 foreign tourists from 103 countries, 86 percent believe the payment experience has become more convenient. The vast majority of these tourists used mobile payment methods, the Xinhua News Agency reported in July.