BEIJING: A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that the ongoing popularity of China tours is inseparable from the country’s continuous policy of openness and its efforts to enhance services. He invited everyone to visit.
When asked about the growing number of foreign tourists posting their experiences in China online during a press conference, Lin Jian said he has also seen many videos by international bloggers who are traveling and filming around China and has noticed that more and more foreign friends are coming to and falling in love with the country.
In the first seven months of this year, over 17 million foreign nationals entered China, a year-on-year increase of 129.9 percent. Currently, international passenger flights exceed 6,300 per week, marking a nearly 10 percent increase since the end of June.
“This clearly shows the enthusiasm of our foreign friends for traveling to China,” Lin said.
He said China has introduced a raft of policies to facilitate inbound travel, such as trialing a visa-free entry policy for 15 countries for 15 days, mutual visa exemption agreements with six countries, including Singapore and Thailand, and extending the 144-hour visa-free transit policy to 37 ports and 54 countries.
These measures not only allow foreign tourists to experience world heritage sites in Beijing, enjoy the vibrant night scenes on Shanghai’s Bund and explore historical culture in Shanxi’s Provinces ancient buildings, but they also bring China closer to the world, demonstrating China’s sincere commitment to expanding its openness, the spokesperson said.
“The beautiful, diverse, open and warmhearted China welcomes everyone to visit often,” he said. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
