China's visa-free transit policy has been highly favored by foreigners who use it for travel and business.
So far, citizens from 54 countries in the world, including the United States, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Japan are exempted from visa requirements during transit for 72 or 144 hours when heading for a third nation, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA).
A 72-hour visa-free transit policy is currently applied in the cities of Changsha, Guilin and Harbin, while international travelers are allowed to transit in 20 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin, up to 144 hours visa-free.
Since its inception in January 2013, more than 500,000 foreigners have traveled through China under the visa-free policy, said NIA.
Statistics from NIA show that in the first two months of 2024, China recorded around 2.95 million inbound and outbound trips made by foreigners.
The mobile payments process is becoming more convenient at the country's tourism sites, cultural performance venues, restaurants and hotels, as Alipay and WeChat Pay, China's two major online payment platforms, have allowed foreign users to link international credit cards to their platforms.
