China’s decision to widen its unilateral visa-waiver and 240-hour transit-visa-free schemes is already reshaping travel patterns. Latest traffic figures released on 28 November show Beijing ports handled 19.35 million inbound and outbound passengers so far this year—an 18 % rise year-on-year—with foreign nationals accounting for 5.78 million movements, up more than 35 %. Roughly 60 % of these foreigners entered on visa-waiver or temporary-entry permits, underscoring how quickly business visitors and tourists are taking advantage of the streamlined rules.
The impact is nationwide. Xiamen reported record traffic of 5.4 million people, nearly one million of them foreigners, while inland Datong in Shanxi surpassed 50 000 international trips for the first time after securing new routes to Moscow and Seoul. The National Immigration Administration (NIA) has also added ten more airports to its list of “direct-transit” facilities and raised the number of ports covered by the 240-hour visa-free transit policy to 65, giving international companies greater routing flexibility.
![China’s Expanded Visa-Waiver Policies Spark 35 % Jump in Foreign Arrivals]()
These changes build on China’s phased roll-out of unilateral visa-waiver trials that began in December 2023 with six European and ASEAN countries and have since expanded to cover 48 nations. In parallel, Beijing has struck 29 mutual visa-exemption treaties and continues to extend the validity of existing arrangements. Airlines are already responding with extra capacity and new city pairs, while hotels in Shanghai and Guangzhou report double-digit increases in forward bookings from Europe and Latin America.
For multinationals, the easier access is more than a tourism story. Short-notice visits for sales, engineering support, or R&D collaboration no longer require a formal invitation letter and consular appointment. Mobility managers should refresh internal travel guides, remind employees that passport validity must still exceed six months, and verify that onward tickets are booked before departure to satisfy transit-waiver rules. Firms with operations in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta may find it cost-effective to route visitors through newly eligible land ports such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to avoid peak-hour congestion at Guangzhou Baiyun airport.
Looking ahead, industry analysts expect inbound capacity to return to 2019 levels by mid-2026 if the current policy mix stays in place. With China signalling that the waiver programme will be extended through at least 2026, corporate planners can budget for larger volumes of training trips, customer demos and regional meetings inside the mainland—all without the administrative drag of short-stay visas.
The impact is nationwide. Xiamen reported record traffic of 5.4 million people, nearly one million of them foreigners, while inland Datong in Shanxi surpassed 50 000 international trips for the first time after securing new routes to Moscow and Seoul. The National Immigration Administration (NIA) has also added ten more airports to its list of “direct-transit” facilities and raised the number of ports covered by the 240-hour visa-free transit policy to 65, giving international companies greater routing flexibility.
These changes build on China’s phased roll-out of unilateral visa-waiver trials that began in December 2023 with six European and ASEAN countries and have since expanded to cover 48 nations. In parallel, Beijing has struck 29 mutual visa-exemption treaties and continues to extend the validity of existing arrangements. Airlines are already responding with extra capacity and new city pairs, while hotels in Shanghai and Guangzhou report double-digit increases in forward bookings from Europe and Latin America.
For multinationals, the easier access is more than a tourism story. Short-notice visits for sales, engineering support, or R&D collaboration no longer require a formal invitation letter and consular appointment. Mobility managers should refresh internal travel guides, remind employees that passport validity must still exceed six months, and verify that onward tickets are booked before departure to satisfy transit-waiver rules. Firms with operations in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta may find it cost-effective to route visitors through newly eligible land ports such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to avoid peak-hour congestion at Guangzhou Baiyun airport.
Looking ahead, industry analysts expect inbound capacity to return to 2019 levels by mid-2026 if the current policy mix stays in place. With China signalling that the waiver programme will be extended through at least 2026, corporate planners can budget for larger volumes of training trips, customer demos and regional meetings inside the mainland—all without the administrative drag of short-stay visas.
