Starting from Monday, foreigners may enter China via Zhengzhou, Henan’s provincial capital, under the policy, but they are only allowed to stay within the province.
Previously, foreign visitors could enter Yunnan for 144 hours without a visa through the Kunming Changshui International Airport, but their travel was limited to provincial capital Kunming.
“The expansion of the visa-free policy is expected to provide more choices for foreign nationals travelling and doing business in China,” the NIA said.
China also offers a 72-hour visa-free transit policy for foreigners entering the country via Changsha Huanghua International Airport, Harbin Taiping International Airport and Guilin Liangjiang International Airport. Travellers entering through the Changsha airport may travel throughout Hunan province, while those arriving via Harbin and Guilin must stay in those cities.
“The 72/144-hour visa-free transit policy has played an important role in the country’s high-level opening-up, facilitating the exchange of people between China and other countries, and promoting exchanges and cooperation,” the NIA said. The agency also pledged to continue to improve and optimise the policy and welcome foreign visitors.
At present, foreign nationals from 54 countries including the US, Canada, and Britain are eligible for the 72/144-hour visa-free policy if they have a valid onward ticket to another country. There are additional exemptions for cruise ship passengers stopping over in China.
During their stay, foreign visitors may take part in short-term travel or business activities.
Since 2023, China has offered a unilateral visa-free policy for 15 countries, including France, Germany and Australia, and mutual visa-free access for seven new countries, including Singapore and Thailand.
In May, the NIA implemented a 15-day visa-free policy for tourist groups entering China via cruise ships in 13 coastal cities.
The number of foreign visitors has yet to bounce back to the pre-Covid level of 15.53 million travellers in the first half of 2019, but the gap has narrowed considerably.
In the first half of this year, 14.64 million foreigners visited China – up 152.7 per cent year on year. Among them, 8.5 million were visa-free entries, accounting for 58 per cent of inbound trips, according to the NIA.
