Visitors, including many from overseas, view the sights at the Palace Museum in Beijing in July. JIA TIANYONG/CHINA NEWS SERVICE
Entries by foreigners at ports across China exceeded 17.25 million from January to July this year, a 129.9 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023, the National Immigration Administration said on Monday.
The NIA estimated that foreign visitors have boosted consumption by more than 100 billion yuan ($14 billion), with per capita daily average consumption reaching nearly 3,500 yuan.
The surge in foreign visitors to China is rooted in the impact of a series of policies in recent years aimed at facilitating entry by foreigners, it said.
The administration, working with relevant departments, has expanded the number of countries whose citizens are granted visa-free entry. It has also introduced more than 110 measures to facilitate the entry of foreigners into China since April 2018.
Liu Haitao, deputy director of the NIA, said that China's visa-free transit policy, which has been in place since January 2013, is continuously optimized in terms of applicable countries, ports of entry, duration of stay and available areas.
The policy has been a key factor in making it easier for foreign tourists to visit China, he added.
Liu said that the NIA has also introduced a number of regional visa-free policies, including 144-hour visa-free entry to Guangdong province for foreign tourist groups coming from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, 144-hour visa-free entry to Guilin, a scenic city in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, for tourist groups from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 30-day visa-free entry to Hainan province for citizens of 59 countries, and 15-day visa-free entry for foreign tourist groups arriving at coastal provinces by cruise ship.
Recently, a new 144-hour visa-free entry policy for Hainan has been implemented for foreign tourist groups registered in Hong Kong and Macao, benefiting more than 5.9 million foreign tourists, he said.
In addition, "application conditions for port visas have been further relaxed", Liu said. "Foreigners who urgently need to engage in business or other activities in China can now apply for port visas at 100 visa-issuing agencies in 73 cities nationwide. Various convenient services, such as reentry visas for foreign business and investment personnel, are also being provided."
From January to July, immigration authorities across the country issued about 846,000 port visas to foreign nationals who had urgent reasons to enter China but did not have enough time to apply for visas at Chinese embassies or consulates. That was a 182.9 percent year-on-year increase, according to the NIA.
Liu said the administration will continue to optimize visa-free transit policies, including expanding applicable areas, and will increase coordination with regions and relevant departments to improve the convenience for foreigners traveling to China.
Xu Xiaolei, chief brand officer of Beijing-based CYTS Tours Holding Co, said that under the combined effects of the 144-hour visa-free transit policy and other convenient immigration policies, entities in the market have seen significant positive outcomes. The measures not only facilitate tourists' travels but also promote the development of China's tourism industry, Xu said.
Since last year, in the wake of the impact of COVID-19, national departments as well as travel-related enterprises have devised numerous strategies to expedite the recovery of the tourism market, with the convenient entry and exit policies being among the initiatives, he said.
At the same time, these policies are conducive to showcasing China's image to the world, Xu said.
He noted that over a period of time, various national departments have continuously optimized aspects such as accommodations, transportation and payment options for foreign visitors coming to China.
中新经纬1月11日电 “上海市场监管”微信号11日消息，宜家召回3008件USB充电器。 上海市市场监管局称，宜家(中国)投资有限公司自2024年1月10日至2024年4月9日召回2020年4月至2023年12月生产的宜家牌ASKSTORM 奥斯 春节档蝶变：从7亿到80亿，从影院冷清到票房飞驰 在刚刚结束的春节档，电影市场再度创造历史。据灯塔研究院最新发布的《龙腾虎跃，势如破竹――2024年春节档电影市场洞察报告》， 2024年春节档(2月10日-2月17日)，全国电 中国经济导报 中国发展网讯 2月20日，龙年春节热闹欢乐的氛围还未散去，甘肃成县就以开局就是决战的干劲、起步就是冲刺的拼劲的崭新面貌召开2024年工作务虚会，聚焦县域经济高质量发展，围绕“2023年怎么看，2 中新经纬2月23日电 (王玉玲 刘雪玉)近期，美国开放人工智能研究中心(OpenAI)的文生视频大模型Sora一经推出，就引爆互联网。有业内人士认为，以Sora为首的多模态大模型，将带人类走向更超乎想象的地方。如何看待Sora的发 实习期“双向侵权”如何破解？ 劳动时间长，拿到的报酬却很微薄；实习岗位上受了伤，无法获得工伤赔偿……权益受侵害难维权，让职校生实习遭受到多方诟病。与此同时，用心培养后很难留住优秀实习生，付出的人力物力“竹 广州一大桥被撞断裂 当地多举措保障受影响民众生活 中新社广州2月22日电 题：广州一大桥被撞断裂 当地多举措保障受影响民众生活 中新社记者 王坚 佛山籍集装箱船“良辉688”轮于22日5时31分左右，在航经广 。本文链接：Inbound travelers surge amid policy boosthttp://www.sushuapos.com/show-5-25499-0.html
声明：本网站为非营利性网站，本网页内容由互联网博主自发贡献，不代表本站观点，本站不承担任何法律责任。天上不会到馅饼，请大家谨防诈骗！若有侵权等问题请及时与本网联系，我们将在第一时间删除处理。
上一篇： Interactive game featuring Monkey King gains immense popularity
下一篇： China achieves new progress in building High Energy Photon Source