A total of 56,600 arrivals have been registered in China in the first ten days after the implementation of the unilateral visa-free policy for passport holders from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia.
Compared to November 30 figures, a daily average increase of 42.7 percent has been registered. Among them, a total of 26,300 entries were visa-free, accounting for nearly 44.14 percent of the total, VisaGuide.World reports.
The visa-free policy, signed on a trial basis from December 1, brought significant benefits to ease economic and trade cooperation, promote tourism, and further enhance people-to-people exchanges.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China recently announced that in the first three days after the implementation of the new changes, nearly 7,000 of about 18,000 travelers from the five European countries and Malaysia, covered by visa waiver, entered China.
Authorities in China revealed that the daily average number of tourists from these six countries increased by 39 percent on the first three days of December in comparison to the last day of November.
Going forward, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to adjust visa policies to create more favorable conditions and further facilitate cross-border travel.
In November this year, authorities in China unfolded plans for visa-free travel for citizens from France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Spain.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that the new measure aims “to facilitate the high-quality development of Chinese and foreign personnel exchanges and high-level opening up to the outside world.
COVID-related restrictions significantly affected China’s tourism sector, with the country putting strict measures in place to halt its further spread.
In the first six months of this year, China registered 8.4 million entries and exits by internationals based on immigration statistics.
As part of efforts to boost the tourism sector, authorities in China have introduced a new visa-free policy for citizens of Malaysia from December 1 until November 30 next year.
It means that Chinese nationals are eligible to enter this country without visas for up to 15 days for different purposes, such as tourism, business, or transit, among others.
In addition, authorities in China also announced that from December 11 until December 31 this year, China has reduced visa fees by 25 percent for travelers from several countries, such as Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.