China has experienced a surge in visitors from overseas since implementing a 240-hour visa-free transit policy on December 17, 2024, with 8.885 million foreigners entering the country in the three months to March 17 this year, up 34.9 percent over the same period in 2024.Over the past year, China has enhanced its unilateral visa-free policy to welcome more global travelers.
Beijing has broadened this policy to include 38 countries, allowing a stay of up to 30 days.
According to Beijing Border Inspection Terminal, the number of people entering and leaving China via Beijing Daxing International Airport has already exceeded 1 million this year, of which foreign arrivals totaled around 211,000, an increase of about 67.9 percent on the same period in 2024.In southwest China's Yunnan, Mohan has become an important hub for the China-Laos border tourism.
The first ASEAN visa-free tour group has entered the country from the Kunming-Mohan Land Port hub, and to facilitate the exchange of students, the border checkpoint has established an information communication mechanism with schools and opened a "special channel for international students." In 2024, over 2.848 million people from 117 countries and regions passed through the Mohan border checkpoint.At Harbin Taiping International Airport, the only port in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province where the 240-hour visa-free transit policy applies, fast channels allow passengers to clear customs in seconds and self-service filing terminals allow them to print their registration cards with a single swipe.
Zhang Wei, deputy chief of Harbin Border Inspection Station, noted that the number of manual verification lanes in the immigration hall has been increased from eight to 12, and eight new express lanes have been added.