The arrival hall of Beijing Capital International Airport is bustling in July. Indonesian passenger Ria successfully completed the visa free transit procedures with a valid passport and a connecting flight ticket to Japan. She had originally planned to go to Japan to attend a business conference, but recently learned that Indonesian citizens are eligible for China's 240 hour visa free transit policy, so she decided to transit through China and arranged a brief trip during the process. The number of foreign tourists like Rhea who enjoy China's visa facilitation policies is rapidly increasing. According to the data of the National Migration Administration, 13.64 million visa free foreigners entered the country in the first half of this year, up 53.9% year on year. Customs clearance efficiency continued to improve Last December, the National Migration Administration comprehensively optimized the transit visa free policy, extended the visa free stay time for foreigners to 10 days, increased the number of provinces where the policy applies to 24, and implemented cross regional linkage to better meet the needs of foreign tourists for in-depth tourism. The significance of visa free transit is not only in convenience, but also in attracting the attention of global tourists. ”Professor Chen Nan from the School of Culture and Tourism at Henan University believes that it is very important to seize the node position in the cross-border flow chain of tourists, and policies will effectively enhance China's accessibility and friendliness in the global tourism market. Statistics show that in the first half of this year, tourists who came to China under the 240 hour transit visa free policy mainly came from countries such as Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico. The top five cities in terms of visitor volume were Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming, and Chengdu. "The demand for foreigners to come to Beijing for sightseeing, business activities and transit has increased, and the itinerary planning has become more diverse. ”Yang Lele, deputy captain of the second duty team of the fourth duty brigade of Beijing Border Inspection Station, told reporters. To ensure the smooth clearance of transit visa free foreign tourists, the Capital International Airport and Daxing International Airport have added and renovated 11 temporary entry permit dedicated channels, with the review, issuance, and entry inspection completed in one go, greatly improving the efficiency of customs clearance. We will deploy multilingual on-site guides during peak passenger flow periods to ensure that passengers can receive clear instructions as soon as they disembark, "said Yang Lele. Shanghai Port showcased another convenience innovation - port visas. On July 25th, a tour group of 25 foreign tourists from different countries entered Shanghai Pudong International Airport. They applied for group tourist port visas in advance through a travel agency in Shanghai, saving a lot of time and economic costs for applying for individual visas overseas. In addition to group visas, the number of foreign nationals applying for individual port visas from Shanghai port visa agencies has also increased by 34% year-on-year since the beginning of this year. One year ago, Shanghai was the first in the country to pilot the issuance of electronic port visas, where visa information is stored digitally without the need to stick paper visas on passports. The number of visas issued through electronic ports has been increasing month by month, with a month on month growth of 54.95% in the past two months, "said Huang Yichen, Deputy Leader of the Document Management Second Branch of the Exit Entry Management Corps of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. Regional policies are tailored to local conditions. "I have been to many places in China and obtained a tourist visa for entry. This time, I followed a group to enter without a visa, which is much more convenient than before. ”Tunalam Bu'asi, a tourist from Vientiane, Laos, said when entering the country with a tour group from Mohan Port. This is thanks to the visa free policy implemented in February this year for tourist groups from ASEAN countries entering Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. According to regulations, tourist groups from eligible ASEAN countries can enter the country as a whole without a visa through the three ports in Xishuangbanna. The regional visa free entry policy has become a distinctive feature of China's continuous expansion of opening-up to the outside world. In addition to the above policies, there are many other policies, such as visa free 30 days for people from 59 countries to enter Hainan, visa free for foreign tourist groups to enter by cruise, visa free for tourist groups from ASEAN countries to enter Guilin, Guangxi, etc., which have brought convenience for foreign tourists to travel in China. After the implementation of the visa free policy for foreign tourist groups entering China by cruise ship, more and more foreign tourists choose to land in Tianjin by cruise ship, starting their journey to China, and the Tianjin cruise economy is accelerating its recovery and warming up. ”Tian Yuan, the head of Dongjiang Border Inspection Station at Tianjin Border Inspection General Station, introduced that in the first half of this year, foreign passengers entering and leaving Tianjin Cruise Port came from more than 80 countries, totaling nearly 10000 people, a year-on-year increase of 7%. The visa free policy for people from 59 countries to enter Hainan for 30 days has also brought many changes. In the first half of this year, there were 269000 visa free foreigners in Hainan, up 76% year on year, including 256000 visa free foreigners from 59 countries. Hainan has a wider international circle of friends, "said Luo Zhengyu, deputy director of the Haikou Border Inspection Station. Currently, citizens of 85 countries can come to Hainan without a visa with ordinary passports. While traditional tourist sources are steadily growing, countries such as Mongolia, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan are gradually developing into emerging tourist sources, with a year-on-year increase of nearly 70% in inbound tourists from the three countries. In order to cooperate with the implementation of various regional visa free entry policies and allow foreign tourists to enter smoothly, various regions have launched innovative measures: Mohan Border Inspection Station has established an information push mechanism with qualified travel agencies in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, improved the pre entry inspection and pre recording of cross-border tourist groups, real-time reporting of border traffic, and other work to enhance the efficiency of inspection and release; The Tianjin Border Inspection Station sends personnel to inspect and collect information in advance for visiting port cruise ships with short berthing time and high proportion of foreign passengers, so that passengers can disembark at the port and clear customs quickly. Chen Nan suggests that tourism enterprises should seize the benefits of regional visa free entry policies, create a "tourism special zone style" destination service system, and launch customized services for visa free tourists in regions such as Xishuangbanna; Promote the construction of "point line surface" tourism channels, for example, combining cruise entry policies to create cruise high-speed rail city integrated tourism products. The cumulative effect continues to manifest. As of July 17th this year, China has achieved comprehensive visa free access with 29 countries and unilateral visa free access with 46 countries, and the "friend circle" of visa free access continues to expand. At the same time, visa free policies are having a synergistic effect with hot topics in fields such as culture, sports, and economy. Chamber of Commerce exhibitions have become "magnets". The Canton Fair drives the integrated development of culture, commerce, and travel. To ensure this, the Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station has opened a dedicated channel for the Canton Fair and established remote certification points for overseas buyers, ensuring efficient customs clearance for 367000 foreign merchants. In the first half of the year, there were more than 2.22 million inbound foreigners at ports in Guangzhou, up 40% year on year, and the total number and growth rate reached a record high. Sports events attract attention. Since the start of the Jiangsu City Football League on May 10th, a total of 17000 South Korean tourists have entered through Jiangsu ports, a year-on-year increase of 20%. Chen Xiangyun, Director of the Border Inspection Department of Jiangsu Border Inspection General Station, introduced that Jiangsu faces South Korea across the sea, with close economic and trade exchanges and frequent cultural exchanges. Many South Korean tourists come for "micro vacations". This year, the number of South Korean tourists entering and leaving Jiangsu ports increased by 25.2% year-on-year. To this end, Jiangsu Frontier Inspection General Station Nanjing and Wuxi Frontier Inspection Station are equipped with self-service entry card filling terminals at the port site. Passengers can complete the filling in in one minute. The characteristic activities are exciting and diverse. The 35th Qingdao International Beer Festival opened on July 18th, attracting many foreign tourists to come and toast. The visa free policy not only eliminates the tedious process, but also breaks down barriers for cross-border cultural exchanges, "said Liu Zhong, Director of the Border Inspection Department of Shandong Border Inspection General Station. As of July 23, more than 17000 Japanese tourists have entered Shandong ports without visas this year. In response to the continuous increase in passengers from Japan and South Korea, the Shandong border inspection authorities have deployed multilingual personnel in English, Korean, Japanese, and other languages to provide customs clearance support for incoming passengers. We receive a large number of European and American tourists, most of whom can enter through visa free policies and can also travel across provinces, with high convenience. ”Jia Jianqiang, CEO of Beijing Liurenyou International Travel Agency Co., Ltd., told reporters that the company is increasing its advertising investment in overseas markets and launching tourism routes and products with high cultural content and prominent regional characteristics in response to foreign tourists' preferences. "We hope that the cultural and tourism departments can provide more support to travel agencies and help them improve their 'pre departure services'. (New Society)