China’s inbound travel rebound gathered remarkable pace in the opening days of 2026. According to a report carried by People’s Daily Online, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu all laid on welcome ceremonies for their first planeloads of foreign visitors on New-Year’s Day. Online agency Qunar said foreign passport holders booked domestic flights to 97 Chinese cities during the three-day holiday, with Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing topping the popularity list.
Visa-free entry has proved the decisive catalyst. Travellers from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea and many members of ASEAN streamed through Beijing Capital International Airport without visas, while Haikou and Sanya in Hainan reported the fastest growth in inbound flight bookings—fuelled by the island’s enlarged 15-day visa-waiver for cruise parties and its 240-hour transit-visa-free program.
Trip.com’s latest inbound white paper shows foreign arrival bookings in the first three quarters of 2025 had already doubled year-on-year; bookings from countries benefiting from China’s unilateral visa waivers rose 153 %. Industry analysts point out that the immediate uptick at the start of 2026 confirms the upside scenario in which annual foreign arrivals could reach 40 million this year—still below the 2019 peak of 65 million, but enough to restore profitability across many segments of China’s hospitality and aviation sectors.
![Inbound tourism to China surges 38 % in first week of 2026 under expanded visa-free scheme]()
Meanwhile, travellers who are unsure whether they qualify for China’s expanding visa-free schemes—or who simply need a different type of entry permit—can turn to VisaHQ for fast, reliable assistance. The company’s dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) tracks the latest exemptions and transit policies in real time and streamlines the entire application process for those who still require a visa, saving both leisure and business visitors valuable time and effort.
For multinationals the easier entry rules lower both cost and complexity of business travel. No-visa stays of up to 30 days remove the need for invitation letters, and the revived international flight network means managers can once again combine multiple mainland cities in a single trip. Companies with China-based projects are already rescheduling site visits that had been repeatedly postponed.
Provincial governments are racing to convert the momentum into longer stays and higher spend. Chongqing reported a 170 % jump in foreign arrivals after a targeted social-media campaign, while smaller cities such as Dali, Beihai and Xuzhou each logged three-fold growth. Local bureaus are rolling out multilingual guides, tax-refund counters, and QR-code payment tutorials to turn first-time visitors into repeat customers.
Visa-free entry has proved the decisive catalyst. Travellers from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea and many members of ASEAN streamed through Beijing Capital International Airport without visas, while Haikou and Sanya in Hainan reported the fastest growth in inbound flight bookings—fuelled by the island’s enlarged 15-day visa-waiver for cruise parties and its 240-hour transit-visa-free program.
Trip.com’s latest inbound white paper shows foreign arrival bookings in the first three quarters of 2025 had already doubled year-on-year; bookings from countries benefiting from China’s unilateral visa waivers rose 153 %. Industry analysts point out that the immediate uptick at the start of 2026 confirms the upside scenario in which annual foreign arrivals could reach 40 million this year—still below the 2019 peak of 65 million, but enough to restore profitability across many segments of China’s hospitality and aviation sectors.
Meanwhile, travellers who are unsure whether they qualify for China’s expanding visa-free schemes—or who simply need a different type of entry permit—can turn to VisaHQ for fast, reliable assistance. The company’s dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) tracks the latest exemptions and transit policies in real time and streamlines the entire application process for those who still require a visa, saving both leisure and business visitors valuable time and effort.
For multinationals the easier entry rules lower both cost and complexity of business travel. No-visa stays of up to 30 days remove the need for invitation letters, and the revived international flight network means managers can once again combine multiple mainland cities in a single trip. Companies with China-based projects are already rescheduling site visits that had been repeatedly postponed.
Provincial governments are racing to convert the momentum into longer stays and higher spend. Chongqing reported a 170 % jump in foreign arrivals after a targeted social-media campaign, while smaller cities such as Dali, Beihai and Xuzhou each logged three-fold growth. Local bureaus are rolling out multilingual guides, tax-refund counters, and QR-code payment tutorials to turn first-time visitors into repeat customers.
