However, the number of foreign tourists has yet to reach pre-COVID levels, when 15.53 million foreign tourists visited the country in the first half of 2019.
China is gradually increasing the number of countries that allow travelers to stay for up to 15 days for business, tourism or family visits as domestic tourism slumps due to the economic downturn.
The new visa exemption applies to Australia and more than a dozen European countries. Twenty-three more countries are eligible for reciprocal visa exemptions, including Thailand, which was added to the list this year. Singaporeans and Malaysians can stay for up to 30 days at a time.
03:15
What you need to know: New mainland China travel permits for non-Chinese in Hong Kong and Macau
What you need to know: New mainland China travel permits for non-Chinese in Hong Kong and Macau
The country expanded its visa-free transit policy to 54 countries in November, allowing citizens of those countries to stay in Beijing, Shanghai and 20 other cities for up to 144 hours if they have a valid connecting ticket to another country. There is a further exception for cruise ship passengers making stopovers.
The National Immigration Administration said it processed a total of 287 million entry and exit procedures in the first half of 2024, a 70.9% increase from the previous year.
This includes 137 million trips by mainland Chinese residents, 121 million trips by residents of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and 29.2 million trips by foreigners.
A range of measures have also been introduced to make travel easier for international visitors, including easing regulations to allow travelers to use the most common domestic payment apps with foreign bank accounts and cards – something that has previously been a big problem as most businesses don’t accept cash or major international cards such as Visa and Mastercard.
The People’s Bank of China also increased the amount that foreign passport holders can spend on mobile payment apps, increasing the amount per transaction from $1,000 to $5,000 and the annual cumulative limit from $10,000 to $50,000.
02:27
China expands visa-free travel to six new countries
China expands visa-free travel to six new countries
Zhu Shanzhong, former deputy director of the China National Tourism Administration, told 21st Century Business Herald in December that increasing numbers of foreign tourists would play an important role in developing the domestic tourism industry.
He said that even before the coronavirus pandemic, there was a “big gap” between China and the most popular tourist destinations in terms of the contribution of foreign tourists to gross domestic product, but that this was expected to start narrowing going forward.
“Market growth will exceed 1 trillion yuan [US$137 billion] “It is increasing every year, and in the future, inbound tourism revenue from foreigners is expected to account for 1 percent of our country’s GDP,” Zhu said.
