(250202) — SHANGHAI, Feb. 2, 2025 (Xinhua) — Tourists from France and Bulgaria pose for selfies at the Bund area in east China’s Shanghai, Feb. 1, 2025. As the Chinese people are celebrating the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, they have been joined this year by an increased number of foreign tourists, who have come to experience Chinese culture following the implementation of a new visa-free transit policy. China continued easing its visa policies in 2024 to boost openness and people-to-people exchange, allowing more foreign travelers and businesspeople to visit the country visa-free. Its latest move was an extension of its visa-free transit policy, which has permitted eligible foreign travelers to stay in the country for 240 hours without a visa. Statistics released by Chinese online travel service giant Trip.com Group show that the volume of travel bookings from foreign tourists to China during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday grew by 203 percent compared to the same period last year. According to Tujia, a Chinese homestay booking platform, Shanghai’s Spring Festival homestay reservations made by foreign tourists more than tripled from last year, and the number of homestays available for foreign guests was up by 30 percent, with many providing English services. Spring Festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of the traditional new year, was added by UNESCO into its list of intangible cultural heritage in December last year. (Photo by Chen Haoming/Xinhua)
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BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) — China’s inbound tourism market holds immense potential, driven by continued policy optimization that aims to ease access for international travelers and improve the overall travel experience across the country, according to industry experts.
China will further enhance the convenience of inbound tourism in terms of visas, payments, transportation and accommodation, Shi Zeyi, an official at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said during the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency.
It will also focus on „precise demand orientation, diversified business formats, and international-standard services” to improve inbound tourism services, Shi added. For example, China will introduce new products and business models to cater to the diverse needs of travelers from different countries, Shi said.
It will also encourage inbound consumption by increasing the number of duty-free shops and expanding the range of goods eligible for „instant tax refunds,” which allows foreign visitors to instantly claim value-added tax rebates at tax-free stores across the country, Shi added.
The country will continue to improve its institutional mechanisms for high-standard opening-up, ensuring greater openness, more robust open development and security to facilitate personnel exchanges and cultural interactions, said Liu Jia, an official from the National Immigration Administration. ■
