Visa-free, Favorable Policies Boost Foreign Arrivals

A report from China Daily Apr. 11th, 2026：

Foreign arrivals to China rose sharply in the first quarter of this year, underscoring the impact of the country's expanding visa-free policies and broader efforts to facilitate cross-border travel, the National Immigration Administration said on Friday.

China's immigration authorities inspected a total of 185 million entries and exits in the first quarter, up 13.5 percent year-on-year, according to the administration's spokesperson Lyu Ning.

Among them, foreign nationals accounted for about 21.33 million trips, up 22.3 percent from a year earlier, outpacing the growth recorded for mainland residents and residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Nearly 8.32 million foreign nationals entered China visa-free during the period, up 29.3 percent year-on-year, with visa-free entries accounting for 77.9 percent of all foreign arrivals.

By comparison, the number of entries and exits made by mainland residents reached nearly 91.67 million, up 14.2 percent year-on-year, while trips by residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan totaled nearly 72.5 million, up 10.3 percent.

Lyu said the steady rise in foreign arrivals came as immigration authorities moved to further expand institutional opening-up in immigration administration, coordinated with relevant departments to broaden the list of countries eligible for unilateral visa-free entry, and continued to improve services for overseas travelers.

Authorities also continued to streamline applications for various entry and exit documents and improve the efficiency of government services. In the first quarter, they issued 406,000 visas and other documents for foreign nationals.

During the same period, the administration's online service platform handled 51.32 million inquiries and other government service requests from Chinese and foreign travelers, and its 12367 service platform also handled about 1.8 million inquiries from people in more than 100 countries and regions.