Speaking at a National People’s Congress (NPC) press conference in Beijing on 7 March 2026, Minister of Culture and Tourism Sun Yeli sketched the most ambitious inbound-mobility upgrade China has attempted since the 2008 Olympics. Sun confirmed that 2025 marked a turning point: inbound trips reached 150 million, up 17 percent year-on-year, and foreign-visitor spending climbed 40 percent to US $130 billion. Crucially, more than 30 million arrivals entered on visa-free schemes, convincing policymakers that “policy liberalisation directly converts into arrivals.” To lock in that momentum, the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) mandates five parallel work-streams. First, Beijing will expand its 30-day visa-free list from 50 to “around 70” countries, prioritising Europe, the Gulf and Latin America. Second, ten additional international airports—including Xi’an, Changsha and Qingdao—and four land-sea crossings will join the 144/240-hour transit-waiver programme, giving business travellers unprecedented itinerary flexibility. Third, China will roll out a pre-arrival e-entry card that generates a QR code recognised at every immigration counter. The National Immigration Administration says pilots at Beijing Daxing and Guangzhou Baiyun have already cut average clearance times to under four minutes. Fourth, the People’s Bank of China has set a 31 December 2026 deadline for Alipay and WeChat Pay to support UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Discover on a single interface, while major airports will open “International Payment Help Desks” staffed in six languages. Finally, duty-free zones will double same-day tax-refund counters and allow digital refunds to overseas e-wallets. For multinationals the message is clear: China aims to remove the friction points—visas, payments, customs—that have discouraged short-notice travel since the pandemic. Travel-management companies are already advising clients to review policy handbooks so that staff can leverage the forthcoming e-visa portal and expanded transit waivers. Airlines, meanwhile, are planning capacity increases for the 2026/27 winter season as demand projections are revised upward.
![China unveils ‘one-stop’ visa, transit and payment overhaul to woo 200 million foreign visitors]()
Amid these rapid changes, travelers and corporate mobility teams can lean on VisaHQ’s expertise to stay ahead of the curve. The global platform (https://www.visahq.com/china/) monitors Beijing’s expanding visa-free roster in real time, pre-processes the new e-entry QR codes, and handles any remaining paperwork for traditional visas—offering a streamlined, compliant pathway into China for both short-notice and strategic trips.
Sun closed the briefing with a direct appeal: “Whether you are pitching for a contract in Shenzhen or taking a weekend in Zhangjiajie between meetings, we intend to make China the world’s most convenient long-haul destination.”
Amid these rapid changes, travelers and corporate mobility teams can lean on VisaHQ’s expertise to stay ahead of the curve. The global platform (https://www.visahq.com/china/) monitors Beijing’s expanding visa-free roster in real time, pre-processes the new e-entry QR codes, and handles any remaining paperwork for traditional visas—offering a streamlined, compliant pathway into China for both short-notice and strategic trips.
Sun closed the briefing with a direct appeal: “Whether you are pitching for a contract in Shenzhen or taking a weekend in Zhangjiajie between meetings, we intend to make China the world’s most convenient long-haul destination.”
