In the first three quarters of this year, nearly 94.63 million inbound trips were made to China, surging 78.8 percent year over year, according to the data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and People's Bank of China last week at China International Travel Mart.
The surge was partially contributed to the country's visa-free policies. Since the beginning of this year, China has expanded its visa-free policies, relaxed visa application requirements and simplified procedures, exempted border checks for certain transit passengers and made mobile payment services more convenient for foreigners.
Just in the third quarter alone, visa-free entries surged 78. 6 percent year over year. The number is expected to go up with nine more countries added to the visa-free scheme, eight of them from Europe.
The country announced last week that ordinary passport holders from nine more countries, namely Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, and Japan, will enjoy visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis starting Nov 30, bringing the total number of the countries eligible for visa-free access to China to 38.
Under the arrangement, visitors can stay in China without a visa for up to 30 days for purposes such as business, tourism, family visits, exchanges and transit.
South China's Guangdong Province is one of the most popular destinations for foreign visitors. Located in the old town of Guangzhou City, Yong Qing Fang is a landmark and a popular tourist attraction. It's also an outstanding example of the city's rejuvenation that combines both tradition and modernity. Built in 1931, Yong Qing Fang has witnessed many historical and cultural changes in Guangzhou. Many old buildings have been renovated yet still retain their original architectural style and historic value.
City walk is all the rage these days as Guangdong's climate is mild with long sunshine hours at present. Both domestic and foreign visitors can take a leisure walk and taste local foods on the old streets whenever they want, making Guangzhou or the wider Guangdong a very popular destination.
In the first half of this year, Guangdong welcomed over 30 million inbound trips, four times the number of last year, translating to 75 billion yuan (about 10.36 billion U.S. dollars) in foreign exchange tourism spending. It is also a huge boost for the city economy as well.
In the first three quarters, Beijing received over 2.7 million inbound trips, surging by over 200 percent year over year. The similar tourist boom also took place in Shanghai with the city welcoming over 4.6 million inbound trips in the same period, growing by more than 100 percent compared with the same period last year.
China sees surging inbound trips in first three quarters
Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers have enhanced their innovation and efficient collaboration across various essential sectors in the industry to further improve and stabilize the global industrial and supply chains.
At the second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) which concluded on Saturday, automakers from both home and abroad set up exhibition booths at the smart vehicle section to showcase not only finished automobiles, but also raw materials and components such as batteries and sensors.
BTR New Material Group Co., Ltd., a professional manufacture of cathode and anode materials for lithium-ion batteries which was founded in August 2000 in south China's tech hub Shenzhen, is dedicated to delivering top-tier battery material solutions for the global new energy industry. They supply essential materials for the production of power batteries used in new energy vehicles, consumer electronics batteries, and energy storage systems.
"Our core products include lithium-ion battery anode materials, cathode materials, and advanced new materials. These components are essential for manufacturing power batteries for new energy vehicles, consumer electronics batteries, and energy storage systems. Since the battery is the heart of a car, our anode and cathode materials are crucial to the battery's performance. We have seen significant growth in this sector," said Chen Chuntian, BTR's technical support director.
As China's leading battery maker, the booth of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) showcased products from the energy storage sector, including supercharging piles and various power batteries.
Leveraging the industry chain established by CATL, over 200 leading companies specializing in core materials, battery structure components, and intelligent equipment have also set up operations in Ningde City, east China's Fujian Province.
At the exhibition area of smart vehicles, many car companies set up booths, showcasing how the automotive industry chain is interconnected. The Beijing Ideal MEGA and Xiaomi SU7 models are both equipped with battery packs from CATL.
Another notable company is Seres Automobile, the EV unit of China's Chongqing Sokon Industry Group which acts as a "chain leader". It has successfully attracted a significant number of upstream and downstream enterprises in the field of intelligent connected new energy vehicles.
"Seres has consistently focused on software-defined vehicles, establishing a supply chain system centered around cross-border cooperation with Huawei, which follows a 1+1 plus N model. This approach includes numerous leading supply chain companies, enabling a high degree of parts integration and local clustering of suppliers. Emphasizing integration and agglomeration, Seres has streamlined its network by reducing its previous 300 first-tier supplier partners to just 100, of which 20 are world-class supply chain companies. This consolidation has significantly enhanced the collaborative efficiency and innovation capabilities of the supply chain," said Guo Feng, director of Seres's brand public relations department.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's annual production of NEVs surpassed 10 million units in November 2024 for the first time. This milestone is attributed to innovation and efficient collaboration within the industry chain.
As the world's first national-level exhibition focusing on supply chains, the five-day expo attracted nearly 700 exhibitors from 69 countries and international organizations.
China's NEV manufacturers enhance innovative collaboration to further improve, stabilize global industrial, supply chains
