Removing entry visas for the nationals of six countries – France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia – has resulted successful for the Chinese tourism, attracting a total of 118,000 visitors from these countries under the visa-free regime last December alone.
According to data published by China’s National Immigration Administration, in total 214,000 people from these six countries have entered China last month, over half of them visa-free.
This number marks an increase of 28,5 per cent compared to the number of visitors from these countries that traveled to China in November, VisaGuide.World reports.
Among them, the number of people entering visa-free with ordinary passports reached 118,000, accounting for 55.1 per cent of the total number of entries from these six countries during the same period.
The majority of those entering China visa-free with ordinary passports, 91,000, were traveling for tourism and business purposes, accounting for 77.3 per cent of the total.
In a bid to make sure that the visa-free scheme for nationals of these six countries will run smoothly, the National Immigration Administration has deployed sufficient law enforcement personnel and inspection channels at all of China’s ports of entry to ensure efficient and smooth customs clearance.
At the same time, the Administration has guided local public security departments and entry-exit management authorities to provide convenient services in accordance with laws and regulations for those entering visa-free.
China introduced visa-free entry for the nationals France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia on December 1, in a bid to attract more tourists from these countries, and boost the tourism industry, which has stagnated following the Coronavirus pandemic.
Within the first three days of the new visa-free policy, 7,000 travelers from these six countries travelled to China with only their passports. At the end of December 10, as many as 56,000 travelers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia had reached China visa-free.
In addition to an increase in the number of tourists from these countries, China has experienced an overall increase of tourists reaching its territory at the end of 2023.
The National Immigration Administration reports that during this year’s New Year’s holiday, there were 5.179 million entries and exits, averaging 1.726 million per day, registered at the country’s borders, marking almost a five-fold increase compared to last year.