Visa-free transit policy boosting foreign visits

The number of foreigners coming to China has increased significantly in the first quarter of this year as a result of the continued improvement in the country's policies to facilitate cross-border travel, the National Immigration Administration said on Tuesday.

As China's visa-free transit policy was optimized in December, ports across the country recorded over 9.2 million entries made by foreign visitors between January and March, a 40.2 percent year-on-year increase, said Lin Yongsheng, spokesman for the administration, adding that 71.3 percent of these were visa-free entries.

On Dec 17, China optimized its visa-free transit policy by increasing the duration of visa-free transit to 240 hours for citizens of 54 countries, a significant increase from the previous 72 hours and 144 hours.