In the first months of 2025, China's international tourism picture has recovered strongly and impressively, with the number of visitors recording explosive growth in the first quarter. The main driving force for this improvement comes from a series of bold opening-up policies and attractive visa exemption incentives implemented by the Chinese government.
From luxury cruises, busy air routes connecting continents, to bustling cross-border travel by land, the number of international visitors to vibrant coastal cities and bustling border areas has reached record numbers, far surpassing all statistics since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
International tourists to China are recording explosive growth in the first quarter of 2025
One of the key "boosts" for this growth is the special visa-free entry policy for foreign tourists coming to China by cruise ship, organized by domestic travel agencies. This policy, which will take effect from May 15, 2024 and apply to 13 key international seaports, has breathed new life into the cruise tourism segment. After nearly a year of implementation, the effectiveness of this policy has been clearly demonstrated, creating a breakthrough growth for China's cruise tourism industry.
This is thanks to a series of open-door policies and visa-free incentives.
Typically, in the dynamic city of Xiamen, in the first quarter of 2025, there were 5 international cruise ships docking, welcoming nearly 3,000 visitors from all over the world. Notably, more than 30% of these visitors then continued their journey to explore deeper into China's interior, traveling to other provinces and cities through inland ports, showing the strong influence of this policy.
Not only Xiamen, other bustling coastal cities such as Shenzhen and Qingdao also recorded a surge in international tourist arrivals. In particular, on April 10, Qingdao Cruise Port reached a memorable milestone with more than 10,000 arrivals and departures in a single day, breaking all records since the port began operations in 2015.
In addition to sea tourism, the visa-free policy for citizens from important neighboring countries such as Japan and South Korea has also turned Shandong Province into an attractive international "check-in point". In the first quarter of 2025, up to 84,000 South Korean tourists entered Shandong without a visa, accounting for more than 83% of the total number of foreign visitors to China under visa-free entry, showing the strong attraction of this policy to the East Asian tourism market.
Foreign tourists arriving in China by cruise ship, organized by domestic travel companies, are exempt from visas to enter 13 international seaports.
Meanwhile, cross-border tourism activities have also become extremely vibrant in border provinces such as Yunnan and Guangxi. In Yunnan, thanks to a special visa exemption policy for tourist groups from ASEAN countries through the Jinghong (Xishuangbanna) border gate, this year's traditional Water Splashing Festival has attracted tens of thousands of tourists from Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. At the Mohuan checkpoint alone, the number of tourists has peaked at nearly 9,300 per day, a new record number, demonstrating the effectiveness of policies to facilitate tourism in the region.
These open and favorable policies for international tourists have not only boosted the tourism industry but also brought about positive spillover effects to many other sectors of the economy. The increase in tourist arrivals has stimulated domestic consumption, creating significant growth for service industries such as hotels, restaurants and transportation. At the same time, these efforts have also contributed to affirming China's increasingly important role as a potential emerging international tourism hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
These open policies not only promote tourism but also stimulate domestic consumption and growth in hotel services.
With a series of new international cruise routes launched, unique cultural festivals held across the country, and increasingly optimized and facilitated immigration procedures, China's tourism industry is expected to continue its strong growth momentum in the summer and the second quarter of 2025. The recovery and development of the tourism industry will not only bring practical economic benefits but also make important contributions to enhancing cultural exchanges and people-to-people diplomacy between China and countries around the world after the severe impacts of the pandemic.
