It has now been a full year since China
cautiously reopened
its borders, aiming to revive international tourism. However, despite the
easing of its formerly stringent “Zero
Covid Policy” restrictions, the Asian country has witnessed a sluggish
return of foreign travelers, with the number down by more than 60 percent
compared to pre-pandemic levels.
According to data from the
National Immigration Administration, China recorded 35.5 million entries and
exits by foreign nationals in 2023. While this is nearly seven times more than
the 2022 figure, the numbers are a mere 36 percent of the 97.7 million recorded
in 2019, signaling a challenging road to full recovery. Notably, over half of
these border crossings occurred in the last three months of 2023, indicating a pickup
in momentum toward the end of the year.
Despite the slow
return of foreign tourists, the number of foreign nationals residing in China
has rebounded to 85 percent of the level seen at
the end of 2019. CNN
reported that Zhang Ning, a
spokesperson for the National Immigration Administration, revealed this data at
a news briefing on Thursday, also noting that authorities had issued foreign nationals a total of 711,000
residency permits last year.
In a bid to boost its
lagging economy, Beijing has introduced various measures to attract foreign
visitors, including initiating
the "Nihao! China"
campaign. Just this week, China decided to grant visa-free entry to Irish and Swiss tourists, building on
a series of such concessions made in recent months.
Shanghai skyline at sunset. (Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images E+/ASMR)
In November, China
also expanded
its visa-free entry policy to several new nations, including France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. This
trial program, which is
set to last for 12 months, allows
citizens of these nations visa-free entry for 15 days. Data on its success is yet to be fully
analyzed.
In December alone, 118,000
travelers from these six nations entered China without a visa under the new
policy, with the majority (77 percent) visiting for sightseeing, leisure or
business activities, according to the National Immigration Administration.
The push to lure back more
international travelers has continued into the new year. In early January,
China and Thailand struck a reciprocal agreement to permanently waive visa
requirements for each other's citizens. Additionally, China has simplified the
visa application process for American tourists, eliminating the need for proof
of round-trip air tickets, hotel reservations, itinerary details or an
invitation letter when applying for a tourist visa.
In light of the
slower-than-expected return of foreign visitors, China intensified measures to streamline
inbound international travel in the latter half of 2023. In August, it eliminated
all pre-entry Covid-19 test requirements, offered business travelers the ability
to obtain visas upon arrival and exempted visitors from certain countries from
the fingerprinting requirement.
Furthermore, WeChat and Alipay,
China's two predominant payment apps, began allowing foreign visitors to link
their credit cards last summer, enabling seamless point-of-sale transactions—such
as payment at hotels, restaurants, shops and for various forms of transportation—across
the country, which operates on a near-cashless basis.
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