Foreign tourists pose for photos at Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

With the latest relaxation and extension of its immigration policies, China is expected to become a popular destination for foreign tourists this upcoming New Year holiday.

The number of inbound and outbound passengers will reach 2.05 million per day during the New Year holiday in China, up 18.8 percent year on year, as the National Immigration Administration has forecast. Peak hours are expected to occur mainly on the evening of Dec. 31, 2024 and Jan. 1, 2025.

During the holiday, four major airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu are expected to handle nearly 200,000 international passengers per day.

Earlier this month, China announced a significant relaxation of its visa-free transit policy, extending the permitted stay for eligible foreign travelers from the initial 72 hours and subsequent 144 hours to 240 hours, or 10 days.

Under the updated policy, eligible citizens from 54 countries can enter China visa-free when transiting to a third country or region. These travelers may enter through any of the 60 ports across 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and stay within the designated areas for up to 240 hours.

Besides, China has implemented a complete mutual visa exemption for 26 countries and issued a unilateral visa-free policy for 38 countries.

"This is my second visit to China. In the past, I had to go through visa and other formalities before I could come here. With this new policy, it is becoming more and more convenient to come to China," said Beschetnov Stanislav from Russia. Upon landing at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, he planned to use the visa-free transit policy to take his family to the Bund, Nanjing Road, and other scenic spots in the city.

According to the statistics of Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection, from Dec. 17 to 24, the station issued 240-hour temporary entry permits to nearly 1,000 foreigners. The top five countries are Russia, the United States, Britain, Sweden and Canada.

"We are on a five-day vacation in Shanghai this time. It is more convenient to come to China now, taking just over an hour to fly here, without complicated procedures or costs of a visa application," said Lim Seung-hwan from the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Since China extended its visa-free policy to ROK and Japan last month, 11,000 passenger flights between Shanghai and the two countries and 363,000 ROK and Japanese tourists have been logged at Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection. The passenger number increased by more than 20 percent compared with the same period from September to October. 

In the meantime, the southern Chinese island province of Hainan has always enjoyed the best visa-free entry policy in China. Since the beginning of this year, more than 350,000 foreign tourists have entered Hainan visa-free, a year-on-year increase of more than three times, accounting for 85 percent of the foreign tourists visiting the tropical island.

Visa-free entry has become the main way for foreigners to enter Hainan.

The Mohan railway port in southwest China's Yunnan Province, an important gateway on the China-Laos Railway that entered operation in April of 2023, has welcomed over 33,000 foreign tourists this year, a year-on-year increase of 99.5 percent, including over 9,500 visa-free entries, an increase of ten times from last year.

China recorded nearly 29.22 million inbound foreign visits between January and November 2024, up 86.2 percent year on year. Of these, 17.45 million entered the country visa-free, marking a significant 123.3 percent year-on-year growth.