Zhangjiajie port of entry. 

On December 1, 2023, China began implementing unilateral visa-free entry trials for ordinary passport holders from six countries such as France and Malaysia. Since then, the policies have been expanded to more countries, and the maximum stay time extended. 

In the past year, the number of the foreign travelers entering and exiting through the Changsha and Zhangjiajie ports amounted to 946,000, increasing by 11% over the historical peak in 2019. 32% of these foreign travelers benefited from the visa-free policy. 

Travelers from Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore—countries granted visa-free entry earlier—have remarkably surged to China, with increases of 66%, 197%, and 58%, respectively, compared to 2019.

China began to implement visa-free entry trials for ordinary passport holders from South Korea on November 8, 2024, sparking a boom in the tourist off-season. This November, 25,000 South Korean travelers entered China through Hunan’s ports, up 78% over last year and matching the figure in the same period in 2019. 17,000 of these travelers enjoyed the visa-free policy. 

A customs official answers questions from a traveler.  

Data shows that, during the January-November period of 2024, Hunan's ports have handled 1.52 million inbound and outbound trips, including over 980,000 through the Changsha port and over 530,000 through the Zhangjiajie port. The number of inbound and outbound travelers through the Zhangjiejia port has increased by 50% over the historic peak in 2019, securing its position as the leader among the ports in the non-capital cities in central China.

As of November 30, China has expanded its unilateral visa-free policy to 38 countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland, Australia, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, Brunei, Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Korea, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Japan. And the maximum stay was doubled to 30 days. Foreign travelers can visit China for business, tourism, family visits, exchanges, and simply transit.

Tourists watch the policy presentation video in Korean.  

To cope with the growing volume of inbound and outbound passengers, the Hunan General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection has urged Changsha and Zhangjiajie entry-exit border inspection stations to thoroughly implement the various policies and measures of the National Immigration Administration to facilitate the flow of people and the conduct of business. The measures are as follows:

--Making scientific forecasts of passenger flows, and accordingly adjusting working staff arrangements and increasing customs clearance passages;

--Setting up foreign language service teams to provide border inspection and customs clearance service for foreigners;

--Organizing and carrying out policy presentations, and reminding tourists, travel agencies, and airlines of relevant precautions;

--Establishing a system for applying for arrival cards on a regular basis on demand, so that passengers can make preparations before arriving at the port; and,

--Intensifying efforts to promote Russian, Japanese, and Korean language services on the 12367 national immigration service platform, and continuously expanding service channels, to facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries. 

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.