A TOTAL of 556,000 international tourists entered China via the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in 2024, a 114.8% increase over 2023.

Data from the airport showed that the top five countries for inbound travelers engaged in short-term travel, business trips, and exchanges were Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Singapore.

Of them, 225,000 entered the country visa-free, a fivefold increase compared to 2023. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, and Germany were the top five countries in terms of passengers benefiting from China’s visa-free policy.

Over the past year, the airport handled 5.5 million cross-border trips, a year-on-year increase of 100.3%. This surpassed all other checkpoints in the country and set a new five-year record for the airport.

Thanks to the expansion of China’s visa-free policy and the enhancement of payment services, the country has received more international visitors in 2024, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA).

To date, China has implemented mutual visa exemptions with 25 countries and issued unilateral visa-free policies for 38 countries.

According to the latest statistics cited by State media, from January to November 2024, more than 29 million international travelers entered the country, a year-on-year increase of 86.2%. Of these, 17 million entered under the visa-free program, a year-on-year increase of 123.3%.

(Han Ximin)