China’s strategy of widening unilateral visa-waiver schemes and extending its 240-hour visa-free-transit programme is already paying measurable dividends. Traffic statistics released on 28 November show **foreign entries into Beijing alone have jumped 35 percent year-on-year to 5.78 million trips**, part of a broader 18 percent rise in movements through the capital’s ports this year. Nationwide, cities from coastal Xiamen to inland Datong are smashing pre-pandemic records as airlines restore capacity and add new routes to exploit simplified entry rules.
Roughly 60 percent of foreigners arriving in China this year did so under a visa-waiver or temporary entry permit, according to the National Immigration Administration. The leap is most pronounced in second-tier hubs: Xiamen recorded nearly one million foreign arrivals, while Datong passed the 50 000 mark for the first time after securing new flights to Moscow and Seoul. Ten additional airports were upgraded this month to support “direct-transit” processing, and the list of ports eligible for the 240-hour transit waiver has grown to 65.
![Visa-waiver expansion drives 35 % surge in foreign arrivals to China]()
For multinationals the new reality means fewer invitation letters, faster trip planning and lower compliance costs. Sales engineers can now be dispatched to troubleshoot factory lines on 48-hours’ notice, and regional meeting agendas no longer need to be trimmed to fit a 72-hour stop-over. HR teams are updating internal travel guides to remind employees that passports must still be valid for at least six months and that onward tickets are mandatory for transit waivers.
The hospitality sector is already feeling the lift: Shanghai and Guangzhou hotels report double-digit increases in forward bookings from Europe and Latin America, while conference organisers say international delegate numbers are finally approaching 2019 levels. Analysts at Ctrip predict inbound capacity could fully recover by mid-2026 if current policies stay in place.
With Beijing signalling that the waiver programme will run through at least the end of 2026—and Sweden recently added to the list—corporate planners can now budget for larger volumes of training trips, customer demos and regional off-sites inside the mainland without the administrative drag of short-stay visas.
Roughly 60 percent of foreigners arriving in China this year did so under a visa-waiver or temporary entry permit, according to the National Immigration Administration. The leap is most pronounced in second-tier hubs: Xiamen recorded nearly one million foreign arrivals, while Datong passed the 50 000 mark for the first time after securing new flights to Moscow and Seoul. Ten additional airports were upgraded this month to support “direct-transit” processing, and the list of ports eligible for the 240-hour transit waiver has grown to 65.
For multinationals the new reality means fewer invitation letters, faster trip planning and lower compliance costs. Sales engineers can now be dispatched to troubleshoot factory lines on 48-hours’ notice, and regional meeting agendas no longer need to be trimmed to fit a 72-hour stop-over. HR teams are updating internal travel guides to remind employees that passports must still be valid for at least six months and that onward tickets are mandatory for transit waivers.
The hospitality sector is already feeling the lift: Shanghai and Guangzhou hotels report double-digit increases in forward bookings from Europe and Latin America, while conference organisers say international delegate numbers are finally approaching 2019 levels. Analysts at Ctrip predict inbound capacity could fully recover by mid-2026 if current policies stay in place.
With Beijing signalling that the waiver programme will run through at least the end of 2026—and Sweden recently added to the list—corporate planners can now budget for larger volumes of training trips, customer demos and regional off-sites inside the mainland without the administrative drag of short-stay visas.
