US media reports that China relaxes visa policy

According to a report on the website of The Washington Post on December 18th, China has relaxed its visa policy, allowing some foreign travelers to transit without a visa for up to 10 days. The United States is one of dozens of countries that apply this more relaxed visa policy. This is a move to relax visa restrictions and welcome foreigners back. Earlier this week, the Chinese National Immigration Administration announced this policy adjustment

According to the report, in order to qualify for a 240 hour visa free transit stay, travelers must enter China from one of 60 ports in 24 provinces, including major destinations such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Sichuan. In the original regulations, foreign tourists were limited to a visa free transit stay of 3 or 6 days within China, and there were also fewer ports of entry

David Pitt, the regional product manager in charge of China business at Audley Travel Agency, said, "Overall, China has done a lot of work to improve convenience, which is a significant improvement." This relaxation of restrictions also allows foreign tourists to have a larger range of activities within China. Previously, the government restricted transit passengers to specific areas and ports of entry, but now they can visit all destinations covered by the new policy. In addition, they can also arrive from one port and leave from another port

Taylor Hab, Global Group Product Manager for Asia at Abercrombie Kent Travel Agency, said, "The upgraded policy gives (travelers) more freedom." This more relaxed policy is one of the measures to relax restrictions and attract tourists to China. According to the data of the National Migration Administration of China, more than 8 million foreigners visited China in the third quarter of this year, an increase of nearly 50% year on year

In order to attract various types of tourists, the Chinese government has previously announced that foreign group tourists taking cruise ships can stay visa free in Beijing and coastal provinces for up to 15 days. In addition, more inclusive payment policies have been applied to Alipay and WeChat payment in China

A more promising policy is that citizens from nearly 40 countries (including France, Latvia, Croatia, New Zealand, Japan, and Switzerland) can enjoy 30 days of unilateral visa free entry, although the United States is not among these countries

This policy change comes at a time when foreigners are increasingly interested in traveling to China

Haab said that since April 2023 when Abercrombie Kent Travel Agency resumed its business in Chinese Mainland, the market demand has been strong. The number of tourists booking their "China and Yangtze River Tour" has increased by 1900% compared to last year. Habu also said, "The speed of business recovery is faster than most people expected."

"Faraway" Travel Company is a company specializing in Asian tourism business. Prior to the announcement of the new visa policy, its founder and CEO Catherine Hilde had already noticed that people's interest in traveling to China was "growing stronger"