Passengers take first outbound route from Beijing Daxing International Airport to Hong Kong as the airport officially resumed outbound travel on January 17, 2023. The flight took off at 9:06 am with 101 passengers onboard. Photo: Tu Lei and Zhang Yashu/ GT

Foreigners can now visit China on group tours starting Friday, according to an official announcement, a move that aims to further facilitate cross-border travel.

China's travel agencies and online tourism service providers are permitted to provide inbound group tours for foreign tourists starting Friday, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

They can also offer travel packages including flight tickets and hotels, said a circular issued by the ministry on Friday.

It is the first time foreigners can come to China via group tours after a suspension of three years.

The announcement came after China gradually allowed more foreigners back into the country in recent months, as China downgraded its management of COVID-19 and facilitated the smooth and orderly cross-border travel of Chinese and foreign nationals in early January 2023.

China's visa authorities abroad also resumed issuance of all categories of visas to foreigners starting on March 15, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The loosening of travel restrictions also prompted airlines from home and abroad to resume international services. 

The further lifting of the travel policy for foreigners will bring great hope for the tourism industry as well as the aviation industry in China, Sophy Zheng, head of Communications Lufthansa Group for China, told the Global Times on Friday. 

Lufthansa group currently offers 36 weekly flights from three Chinese cities to Europe. "Our passengers are not only Chinese but also foreign travelers. We believe that more and more travelers from Europe will again be able to travel to China easily, as they did before the pandemic," Zheng added. 

Following the resumption of direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai and Hangzhou earlier in March, AirAsia X continues to expand its China network with two weekly flights to Beijing, which resumed on Thursday.

A total of 169 domestic and foreign airlines will offer 117,222 passenger and cargo flights per week, after the summer schedule started on March 26, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed. 

In terms of international passenger transport, 28 domestic airlines plan to operate 6,772 international regular passenger flights every week, serving 101 cities in 55 countries and regions. There are currently 88 foreign airlines flying to China from 79 cities in 47 countries, and they plan to operate 3,808 regular passenger flights per week, the CAAC said.

Air travel demand is off to a very healthy start in 2023, said Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General, adding that the rapid removal of COVID-19 restrictions for Chinese domestic and international travel bodes well for the continued strong recovery for the industry from the pandemic throughout the year. 

Global Times