China Draws 22.91 Million Foreign Visitors in H1, Up 20.4% as Visa-Free Entries Hit 77.7%
Updated
Updated · Global Times · Aug 10
China Draws 22.91 Million Foreign Visitors in H1, Up 20.4% as Visa-Free Entries Hit 77.7%
3 articles · Updated · Global Times · Aug 10
Summary
22.91 million foreign visitors entered China in the first half of 2026, a 20.4% increase from a year earlier, with visa-free arrivals making up 77.7% of the total.
March policy steps to boost travel service exports and inbound spending helped drive the rise, including streamlined visa procedures, better tax-refund services and multilingual lifestyle apps.
Umetrip has rolled out HiChina, a one-stop tool offering multilingual flight booking, e-boarding passes, arrival-card filing, English navigation, NFC transit payments, translation and tax-refund location searches.
Tourism operators are also packaging services as attractions, from Tianjin's Da Ren Tang TCM-themed wellness program to broader offerings in autonomous driving, smart robots and customized healthcare.
Officials and advisers say the push fits China's 2026-2030 consumption plan, which aims to open more service sectors and turn higher-end service consumption into a new growth engine.
With foreign visitors flocking to ancient wellness therapies, is China successfully turning traditional medicine into its ultimate cultural soft-power weapon?
As all-in-one apps seamlessly manage flights and payments, are foreign tourists unknowingly trading their data privacy for unparalleled travel convenience?
How will JD.com's planned takeover of European retail giant Ceconomy disrupt the global electronics market?