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Holders of normal passports from the above countries can visit China for up to 15 days without a visa under the extended visa-free program, whether for transit, business or private purposes. The aim is to strengthen relations between the destination country and these six countries while making tourism to China more accessible to a wider international market.
Compared to the same period in 2022, the number of visitors in the first ten months of 2023 quadrupled, according to Trip.com, to more than 60% of pre-pandemic levels.
According to the data, Malaysia and Germany were among the top 10 countries from which China received tourists during the same period, with both contributing significantly more visitors than before.
Inbound long-distance traffic is also showing signs of recovery and is even exceeding pre-pandemic levels. For example, bookings from Europe to China saw a remarkable increase of 663% in 2019 compared to 2022 and 28.9% compared to the pre-pandemic period.
Since its launch in September, Trip.com’s new “
