Foreign tourists have a group photo taken at the Palace Museum in Beijing on September 5, 2024. Photo: VCG

China's Foreign Ministry announced on Friday the extension of its visa-free policy to nine more countries, bringing the total to 38.

China decided to extend the visa-free policy to ordinary passport holders from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Japan on a trial basis from November 30, 2024 to December 31, 2025, Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a regular press conference. 

"Starting from November 30, 2024, ordinary passport holders from 38 countries, including the above-mentioned nine countries, can be exempted from visa to enter China and stay for no more than 30 days for business, tourism, family visit, exchange and transit purposes," Lin said.

In addition, China decided to further upgrade its visa-free policy. Visa waiver will now be granted to travelers for exchange purpose and the maximum length of stay will be extended from 15 days to 30 days, said Lin.

By 4 pm on Friday, just half an hour after the visa-free policy expansion was announced by the foreign ministry, searches for China as a travel destination by the European website of travel agency Trip.com increased by 65 percent, while that on the agency's Japan website increased by 112 percent, according to a statement sent to the Global Times from the agency on Friday.

"From January to October this year, inbound travel orders on Trip.com increased by about 200 percent year-on-year. The 144-hour transit visa-free and unilateral visa-free policies are important driving forces for the growth of China's inbound tourism," Qin Jing, vice president of the travel agency, said in the statement.

In addition to the visa-free policy, foreign nationals from more than 50 countries are also granted visa-free entry under the 72/144-hour transit policy.

The increasingly expanding visa-free "circle of friends" has spurred enthusiasm among foreign tourists for travel to China, observers said.

In the third quarter of 2024, foreigners made 8.186 million inbound trips to China, up 48.8 percent year-on-year. Of that number, 4.885 million trips were facilitated by the visa-free policy, up 78.6 percent year-on-year, according to data from the National Immigration Administration (NIA) released in mid-October.

In the first half of 2024, inbound trips totaled 14.635 million, up 152.7 percent year-on-year. Of that figure, 8.542 million foreign entries were under the visa-free policy, up by 190.1 percent, according to NIA data. 

This means that foreigners made 22.821 million inbound trips to China in the first three quarters, of which 58.8 percent, or 13.427 million trips were facilitated under the visa-free policy, according to calculations based on NIA data.

The implementation of the visa-free policy nearly a year ago has not only facilitated the exchange of Chinese and foreign personnel, but also facilitated the promotion of economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges, Tong Xuejun, an official from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday morning at a press conference. 

"Over the past year, China has signed visa-free agreements with six countries: Singapore, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Antigua and Barbuda, Georgia and the Solomon Islands," Tong said. 

Travel agencies have been ramping up preparations for tourism products to China, as the country implements visa-free policies in batches. 

In early November, Xu Xiaolei, a marketing manager from CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times that the company had strengthened cooperation and communication with local travel agencies in visa-free countries, in a bid to provide support for services both domestically and internationally.

"The visa-free policy has an obvious effect on boosting inbound tourism. We have started to design and enrich our existing products, standing ready to welcome visitors from the aforementioned countries," Chen Kai, manager of Beijing Botrip Tour Holiday Co, which specializes in inbound tourism, told the Global Times.