China’s series of favorable border entry policies propel inbound tourism market growth

China has embraced a flourishment of the inbound travel and tourism consumption market so far this year, with a significant increase in the number of foreign tourist visits, thanks to its adoption of a series of measures facilitating the entry of foreigners, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Monday.

In the first seven months of this year, the number of foreign tourist visits to China soared 129.9 percent year on year to 17.25 million, said Liu Haitao, deputy chief of the NIA, at a press conference in Beijing.

Meanwhile, a total of 341 million cross-border travels were recorded, up 62.34 percent from the same period of last year.

“The most significant effect is to directly prosper China’s inbound tourism market. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2023, the average daily consumption by foreigners visiting China is 3,459 yuan (484 U.S. dollars), which is expected to directly drive consumption to reach more than 100 billion yuan (14 billion U.S. dollars),” Liu said.

Since the beginning of this year, China has expanded its visa-free policies, relaxed visa application requirements and simplified the border entry application, review and approval procedures, exempted border checks for certain transit passengers and made mobile payment services more convenient for foreigners.

In the next step, the NIA will continue to roll out favorable measures and policies to further enhance the attractiveness, as well as coordinating with other competent departments to improve the convenience of foreigners visiting China, according to Liu.

China’s series of favorable border entry policies propel inbound tourism market growth

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hong Kong’s Olympians held a bus parade and met the public on Wednesday, celebrating their recent successes at the Paris Games. 

The city recorded its best ever Olympic performance in Paris. The 35 athletes representing Hong Kong in Paris secured four medals, including two golds in fencing, placing Hong Kong 37th position on the medal table out of 91 medal-winning teams, sandwiched between Austria and the Philippines. 

Two open-top buses carrying the athletes, their coaches and other delegation members paraded across Hong Kong for about 90 minutes, despite the inclement weather. 

The public braved the rain to extend their heartfelt appreciation. 

“I was actually at the Olympics in Paris supporting them. And, I thought it’d be a great time, even though it’s not great weather today, but to come out and support them and give them some loving support,” said Nicky, a resident. 

“For Hong Kong, it’s a very, very … it’s like a significant growth in the sports industry,” said Ivory, another resident. 

“No matter for us, Hong Kong people, or for, you know, other tourists coming and watching our athletes, I think that’s a very good thing to sort of to do,” said Patrick, a resident.

Fencers Vivian Kong and Edgar Cheung both clinched gold, and swimmer Siobhan Haughey won two bronze medals in the 100 meter freestyle swimming and the 200m as well. That came off the back of silver medals she won in Tokyo four years ago. 

Optimism filled the air, as the city anticipates this success in the Paris Olympics to be a springboard for future success in the Los Angeles Olympics in four years. 

Meanwhile, residents eagerly await the arrival of Olympians from the mainland later this month. 

HK celebrates record Olympic success with athletes parade