More global tourists interested in China following visa-free expansion

A growing number of global tourists are eying trips to China following the country's decision to expand its visa-free policy to nine more countries, including Japan, Bulgaria and Romania.

The expanded visa-free policy, effective from November 30, 2024, to December 31, 2025, was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, bringing the total number of countries benefiting from China's visa-free policy to 38. Following the announcement, searches for Chinese destinations on various travel platforms surged. On China's leading online travel agency Ctrip, such searches increased month-on-month by 65 percent in Europe and 112 percent in Japan. Inquiries for direct flights from many places in Japan to China also increased significantly.

South Korea is also seeing a surge in travel bookings to China after gaining visa-free entry in the fifth round of expansion, effective from this year's Nov 8 to December 31 next year.

According to the South Korean economic newspaper Aju Business Daily, bookings for group tours to China on a local online travel platform increased by 91 percent from Nov 1 to 5. South Korean airlines are also actively expanding their routes to China. Asiana Airlines has increased its Incheon-Beijing flights from 14 per week to 20.

Data shows that in the third quarter of this year, more than 8.1 million foreign nationals entered China, up 48.8 percent year on year. Among them, more than 4.8 million entered through visa-free entry, a yearly increase of over 78 percent.

More global tourists interested in China following visa-free expansion

Plant closure and layoffs in Germany are inevitable for the German automotive giant Volkswagen, said its brand chief Thomas Schaefer on Saturday.

In a newspaper interview, Schaefer said that the German carmaker cannot rely solely on band-aid measures to overcome its current challenges, adding that the company's labor costs are nearly double those of its European peers and must be reduced by 4 billion euros (4.17 billion U.S. dollars) over the next three to four years.

This September, Volkswagen announced that it was considering closing some of its plants in Germany and terminating the employment protection agreement in place since 1994 as part of cost-cutting measures.

On October 28, head of the group's works council Daniela Cavallo said Volkswagen planned to close at least three plants in Germany and cut tens of thousands of jobs to reduce its costs.

In response to Volkswagen management's plans for pay cuts, layoffs, and plant closures, IG Metall, one of Germany's most influential unions, held a press conference on Wednesday, proposing measures to reduce the company's production costs, including accepting reduced working hours to preserve more jobs.

However, if the proposal is not accepted by the Volkswagen management, the union has warned of launching a massive strike unprecedented in this country starting December 1.

Volkswagen operates 10 plants for its main brand in Germany, employing around 120,000 people.

Plant closure, layoffs in Germany inevitable for Volkswagen: brand chief