Source: Xinhua News Agency
Date: January 24, 2025

In 2024, 64.882 million foreigners entered China, a year-on-year increase of 82.9%, among whom 20.115 million entered visa-free, a surge of 112.3% compared to the previous year. Tens of millions of foreign tourists came to China and fell in love with it. This is a vivid reflection of China’s unwavering commitment to promoting high-level opening up to the outside world.

Policy Optimization: Wider Scope, Broader Fields, and Deeper Levels

240 hours for an in-depth tour; 60 ports for traveling further; 24 provinces for easy access—on December 17, 2024, the new transit visa-free policy announced by the National Immigration Administration caused a strong reaction at home and abroad.

Wider scope, broader fields, and deeper levels! The latest transit visa-free policy has further enhanced its attractiveness and value, highlighting China’s open stance.

On December 24, Peter from Russia, who was traveling from Manila, Philippines, to his hometown of Moscow, applied for a 240-hour temporary entry permit at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport. Data from the Beijing Border Inspection Station shows that as of 24:00 on January 16, nearly 230,000 foreigners entered through the Beijing port, among whom more than 7,300 enjoyed the convenience of the 240-hour transit visa-free policy, a 46.5% increase compared to before the policy optimization.

The direct impetus for the booming “China Tour” comes from open policies.

The “visa-free friend circle” continues to expand. Currently, China has achieved full mutual visa exemption with 25 countries, unilaterally grants visa-free policies to 38 countries, and implements transit visa-free policies for 54 countries. The visa appointment system has been completely abolished, and the scope of fingerprint exemption has been expanded, making visa-free applications smoother.

“I was relaxing in Xiamen, enjoying the sea breeze, tasting delicious food, and listening to music. It was so relaxing,” said Felix, an Australian tourist whose destination was South Korea and needed to transit. “I heard that Xiamen is very beautiful, so I chose it as my transit city. The transit procedures were very simple.”

The transit visa-free policy is constantly being optimized. Visa-free entry for foreign tourist groups arriving by cruise ship, expansion of visa-free entry reasons for 59 countries in Hainan, and implementation of 24-hour direct transit visa-free inspection exemption at nine hub airports… These 18 measures to facilitate foreigners’ visits to China are solid and effective.

The cruise ship tourism market is rapidly heating up. On January 16, the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Port welcomed its first multiple ship docking in 2025. The cruise ships “Spectrum of the Seas” and “MSC Grandiosa” returned to Shanghai after several months, kicking off their 2025 Shanghai homeport operations. In 2024, more than 35,000 foreign tourists entered through the Shanghai cruise port, experiencing the modernity and classical charm of the city and extending their travel to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other inland cities from there.

China’s Attraction: Love at First Sight

Ancient history, beautiful scenery, complete facilities, and hospitable people… Falling in love with China is the common sentiment of many foreign tourists after their visit.

To attract foreign tourists, localities are continuously improving public services for inbound tourism.

For international flight transit passengers, Beijing has launched a “Free Half-Day Tour of Beijing” experience project, allowing foreign tourists to feel the charm of Beijing’s national style at places like Qianmen and the Temple of Heaven.

Tourism practitioners are also innovating—offering more customized products to meet personalized needs, creating more immersive and interactive experiences, and adding lesser-known destinations to traditional inbound tourism routes.

On September 3, 2024, in Changde, Hunan, foreign tourists experienced the making of the intangible cultural heritage, linen painting. (Photo by Zhao Zhongzhi/Xinhua)

The label of being the “filming location for the movie ‘Avatar’” has made Zhangjiajie, Hunan, a place that foreign tourists long to visit. In 2024, Zhangjiajie’s inbound tourism revenue reached $1.008 billion, a year-on-year increase of 504.3%. Zhangjiajie’s port accounted for 95% of the total number of inbound and outbound people, ranking first among all national air ports.

Tourist numbers at ports are “foreigner-friendly,” and so are tourism services. Zhangjiajie is optimizing services related to customs clearance, payment, language, accommodation, and catering.

Cultural and lifestyle experiences form the core appeal of China’s inbound tourism. According to a special survey on inbound tourist satisfaction by the China Tourism Academy, more than 60% of respondents said that experiencing Chinese culture was their main purpose for traveling to China.

In Yunnan, Polish tourist Bernadette visited several ancient towns and even dressed in ethnic minority costumes to experience intangible cultural heritage handicrafts. “The blend of tradition and modernity is truly fascinating! The people here are also very friendly, greeting and helping others warmly,” she said.

On January 21, Norwegian traveler Eugene and his wife entered through the Beijing port. This “Chinese son-in-law” was looking forward to celebrating the Chinese New Year in Beijing. “China is a great country, kind and warm-hearted, grand and hospitable. I’m very excited to come back with my wife and experience the charm of the Spring Festival,” he said.

Hot Words Behind: Comprehensive Enhancement of China’s Soft Power

“China Travel” has become a hot topic and a traffic password. Statistics show that videos with the “China Travel” tag on overseas social media have a total playback volume of nearly 1 billion. Square dancing, giant pandas, beautiful countryside… Chinese tourism videos go viral one after another. “City or not” and “Leaving work on Friday to go to China” have become popular catchphrases.

“China is definitely not what some Western media reports say,” said American girl Christina, who showed overseas netizens China’s convenient mobile payment and extensive high-speed rail network.

“The streets here are clean and orderly, with a strong sense of security and trust. There are no worries about losing things,” Canadian girl Sidney expressed her love for China.

On December 27, 2024, a foreign tourist learned about the smart mobile shower room at Shenzhen Lianhuashan Park. (Photo by Liang Xu/Xinhua)

In addition to convenient transportation and modern living facilities, China’s scientific and technological innovation has also amazed foreign tourists. Driverless cars, shared bicycles, and versatile online shopping… the “future feel” is strong, and it has “won the hearts” of foreign tourists.

“To meet the diverse needs of international tourists, China has taken a series of measures to improve the quality of tourism services,” reported Singapore’s The Straits Times.

“Are you planning to visit this vast country for your ‘dream trip’? We have compiled a guide to answer some of the most common questions about traveling to China,” said CNN.

“China is very charming with a long history and has great advantages in promoting inbound tourism,” said Peter Simon, chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, who hopes that China’s tourism products will continue to increase cultural interactivity and novelty to provide tourists with a deeper experience of local culture.

The beauty of China shines brightly, and the story of China spreads around the world. This is the international community’s recognition of Chinese culture and also the valuable energy that a comprehensively developing China brings to the world.

Hello, China!

China, welcome you! (Reporters: Ren Qin and Xu Zhuang)

Editor-in-Chief: Shu Liang