Visa-free travel to China more than doubled last year from 2023, the latest data shows, with Beijing pledging to further ease its rules for foreign tourists.
This comes after more than a year of travel policy easing, including short-term visa-free transit and unilateral visa-free entry schemes for dozens of countries.
A total of 20.1 million foreign travellers gained visa-free entry in 2024, surging by 112.3% from the previous year, according to National Immigration Administration (NIA) figures released on Tuesday.
"Over the past year … the number of foreigners coming to China has increased significantly," NIA spokeswoman Lu Ning said.
The NIA data was released a day after the State Council, China's cabinet, outlined further efforts to "optimise" inbound travel policies. The move is part of an 18-point package to boost consumption as the country struggles to grow its post-Covid economy.
"[We will] expand the scope of unilateral visa exemptions in an orderly manner and appropriately extend the duration of visa-free stays," the State Council said in a checklist released on Monday.
Of 610 million inbound and outbound trips made during 2024, about 65 million involved overseas visitors, an increase of nearly 83%, according to the NIA data.
However, the numbers have yet to reach the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when the total was 670 million trips, with foreigners accounting for close to 98 million.
Lu said the NIA would continue to "release the dividends of the visa-free policy" and further facilitate foreign travel and exchanges.
China reopened its borders to international visitors in January 2023, after three years of pandemic restrictions. Later that year, it began relaxing entry procedures and granting visa waivers to a growing list of countries.
China is seeking to draw more foreign tourists and investors to help energise post-Covid economic growth, as well as mend a global image dented by harsh zero-Covid controls and anti-espionage efforts that have also targeted foreign nationals.
Visa-free entry has been extended to 38 countries so far, in addition to the full mutual visa exemption policies agreed with 26 nations, according to the NIA.
Observers have argued that unilateral opening measures, including visa-free incentives, could play a critical role in helping China to weather the potential challenges posed by the incoming US administration, with Donald Trump due to become president for the second time next week.
The principle of "who is more open than whom" would be key to gaining leverage in the US-China rivalry, leading political scientist and Beijing policy adviser Zheng Yongnian warned in November.
President Xi Jinping has called for the building of a strong tourism industry and an increase people-to-people exchanges, including with the United States.
Under China's latest move to attract foreign visitors and investment, the nationals of 54 countries are eligible for 10-day visa-free transit as of Dec 17.
The new policy is an upgrade of the three- to six-day visa-free stays granted to the same set of nations since November 2023.
Passport holders from countries including the United States, Australia and Japan can now stay up to 240 hours in certain areas of mainland China when transiting via one of its 60 international ports.
The number of foreign visitors using visa-free transits has grown by 29.5 per cent month on month since the extension, according to the NIA.
Total visa-free transits for the whole of 2024 also more than doubled, growing by 113.5% from the previous year.