Chinese cities continues to receive more inbound travelers, as the country has kept expanding its visa-free policy to cover travelers from more countries.
China on June 25 announced an extension of its visa-free policy to include New Zealand, Australia, and Poland. Effective July 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025, citizens of these three countries holding ordinary passports can visit and stay in China for up to 15 days visa-free for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit.
As China continues to introduce relevant policies to optimize visa requirements on visitors to China, the number of inbound travelers has been on the rise.
On Monday, Flight MF802 from Sydney landed at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport in east China's Fujian Province, carrying the first group of inbound travelers from Australia to Xiamen enjoying visa-free entry.
"Nearly 200,000 foreigners entered China through the Gaoqi port in the first half of this year, which was three times that of the same period last year. Among them, about 70,000 enjoyed visa-free entry, showing a substantial increase," said Chen Jinlai, director of the immigration inspection office of the Gaoqi Immigration Inspection Department of Xiamen Immigration Inspection Station.
In addition to Xiamen, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality also received the first group of inbound travelers from Australia in the early morning of Tuesday.
Tianjin Airlines Flight GS7944, which took off from Sydney, arrived at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport smoothly at 01:35 on Tuesday. Many foreign travelers shared positive sentiments about their trips to China.
"I was very pleased to see that there is a visa-free policy effective from July 1. And I had a plan to travel, and it suited me very well," said Tarema Karand, an Australian visitor.
At present, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport actually operates 39 international or regional passenger and cargo routes, with more than 170 flights per week. The airport said it will continue to open more international routes this year.
"China's extension of visa-free policy has further boosted the enthusiasm of foreign travelers to visit China. In the first half of this year, nearly 40,000 foreign nationals entered China visa-free through the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport," said Lin Sen, head of the second duty team of Chongqing Immigration Inspection Station.
With the extension of visa-free policy, Chongqing's inbound tourism market continues to heat up. Travel agencies have received tripled inbound travel orders for the peak season from July to August, compared with the same period last year.
"We are expected to receive over 500 tour groups in the peak summer tourist season of July and August, of which more than 50 are from New Zealand and Australia, where we have seen the most obvious increase in orders. This is also the market effect brought about by the visa-free policy," said Zheng Lidong, head of the southwest region operation of a travel agency.
China's visa-free policy continues to attract more inbound travelers
China's visa-free policy continues to attract more inbound travelers
China's visa-free policy continues to attract more inbound travelers
