Latest news with #ChinaTravel
Arabian Business
28-05-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
China announces visa-free travel for Saudi, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain
China will implement a visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain from June 9, 2025, to June 8, 2026 said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. The state-run CTGN quoted the spokesperson as saying that ordinary passport holders from the four countries can be exempted from requiring visas to enter the country and stay for up to 30 days for: Business Tourism Family visits Exchanges Transit purposes The UAE and Qatar were granted visa exemptions in 2018. Visa-free travel to China
Daily News Egypt
22-05-2025
- Business
- Daily News Egypt
'China Travel' trending amid visa, tax policy boost
China's optimized visa and tax refund policies have given a boost to inbound tourism, fueling the trending of 'China Travel' globally, officials said. Speaking on the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency, Liu Jia, an official with the National Immigration Administration, highlighted that the updated visa-free policies have waived procedures and reduced time and financial burdens for foreign travelers, making it easier to visit China. China has introduced a slew of policies to facilitate inbound travel since 2023. Major steps taken included expanding mutual visa exemptions and unilateral visa-free access, and extending visa-free entry stay for international visitors. As of now, China has established comprehensive mutual visa exemptions with 29 countries, implemented unilateral visa-free policies for 38 countries, and transit visa-free policies for 54 countries including Britain, the United States and Canada. Tax refund schemes for international travelers have been optimized as well. While allowing foreign shoppers to instantly claim tax rebates at tax-free stores, China has also lowered the minimum purchase threshold for refunds, raised the cash refund ceiling and widened the range of products available. Speaking on the roundtable, Shi Zeyi, an official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said that with continuous improvements in visa, payment and tax policies, 'China Travel' has demonstrated robust recovery momentum and broad growth prospects. Last year, China recorded 132 million inbound trips, with total tourism spending reaching 94.2 billion U.S. dollars, recovering to 97.2 percent and 93.5 percent of 2019 levels, respectively, according to Shi. Liu noted that the influx of foreign visitors has spurred consumption across sectors such as hospitality, retail and cultural services, contributing to the growth of the service trade and attracting foreign investment. These updated policies are evidence of China's commitment to opening up, Liu said, adding that they could help foster deeper cultural understanding between China and the international community, breaking stereotypes held by some countries. 'First-hand experience can help dispel misunderstandings and biases, enabling the world to see, feel and recognize an open, inclusive, prosperous, stable and safe China,' Liu said.
The Star
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Shenzhen cross-border travelers top 100 mln amid tourism boom, visa-free surge
SHENZHEN, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The number of inbound and outbound travelers passing through Shenzhen ports has surpassed 100 million so far this year, local immigration authorities said on Monday, as accelerated regional integration and relaxed visa policies fuel record-breaking mobility in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This milestone was reached 24 days earlier than in 2024, with the daily average number of border crossings nearing 730,000, according to the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection. The highest single-day figure hit 1.04 million. The surge followed intensified development of the Greater Bay Area's "one-hour living circle," the expanded global promotion of the country's "China Travel" cross-border tourism brand, and the continued benefits of relaxed visa policies. Nighttime traffic at the city's Huanggang Port, operating 24/7, jumped 37 percent on weekdays and 23 percent on weekends year on year following upgrades to the local nightlife scene and the opening of Hong Kong's Kai Tak Sports Park. At the Shenzhen Bay Port near the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, authorities have piloted document-free clearance lanes and introduced advanced inspection technology, improving overall clearance efficiency by 37.2 percent. One in every four travelers at the port now uses facial recognition to pass without showing travel documents. The number of foreign arrivals via Shenzhen has also seen a sharp increase, fueled by upgraded visa-free policies such as the 240-hour visa-free transit program and unilateral visa exemptions. As of Monday, the number of foreign travelers processed at Shenzhen ports had surged 41 percent year on year to 2.64 million, of which 560,000 entered visa-free -- a 105 percent jump from last year. Visitors have flocked to Shenzhen's new attractions -- from Michelin-starred dining, shopping malls and helicopter tours to the newly opened Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum, which offer immersive cultural and recreational experiences.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Desire of Chinese, American people to reach out to each other is simple, sincere: Global Times editorial
BEIJING, March 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, an American YouTube sensation known as "IShowSpeed," who has 37 million followers on the platform, has streamed his trip to China live for six hours in a row. Through his lens, overseas netizens see a China of friendly people, clean streets, and "ridiculously fast internet speeds." The two families - one from China and the other from the US - that touched hundreds of millions of netizens by posting photos to each other on RedNote have met each other in Shanghai. The images of the two generations exchanging gifts and enjoying the amusement park together prompted netizens to exclaim, "Isn't this just how the world is supposed to be?" From the online celebrity's "China Travel" to "Say Hi" on RedNote, the heat of people-to-people exchanges between China and the US is unabated, and there has always existed a stable and great demand for exchanges and a friendly foundation between the two countries."Amity between people holds the key to sound relations between countries" - The vigorous vitality of China-US people-to-people exchanges is the vivid stories of countless individuals who measure with their feet, record with their lenses and interact with their IShowSpeed held up his cell phone and sang "Sunshine, Rainbow, White Pony" with young Chinese people, when foreign "ordinary people" shared China's food, beautiful scenery and interesting experiences and insights through their lens, the global audience felt the friendliness and closeness of China in laughter. When more American people are moved by the real China and choose to join the "China Travel" army to remove the "filter," the digital age has given the people of the two countries new channels for communication and also contributed to the "snowball" effect of China-US exchanges. The life of people-to-people exchanges has a strong vitality precisely because it is rooted in the most basic resonances of human nature: the convenience of the mobile network, the streets that make people feel safe even late at night and the friendly and hospitable Chinese people who are completely strangers. These images do not intentionally render anything, but allow the viewers to naturally feel the intersection of an ancient civilization and modern when Chinese netizens asked their American friends to help revise their English compositions and when both sides used "cat tax" to break the ice and interact with each other using popular memes, cultural differences, instead, have become a catalyst for better understanding, and this kind of interaction across borders just proves the power of sincerity and desire of the people in China and the US to "make more visits and exchanges" has always provided important momentum for the stable advancement of bilateral relations. The deeper significance of promoting people-to-people exchanges lies in the fact that the younger generation is becoming the main force behind these interactions.A previous Pew Research Center poll showed that the percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 with negative views of China is 11 percent lower than the average. According to a 2023 report by The Economist, Americans under the age of 45 are relatively less likely to view China as an "enemy." Whether it's the friendship trees planted by Iowa middle school students and their Chinese partners, the exchange visits between Jingshan School and Newton Public Schools resuming after a five-year hiatus, or the high school student delegation from Washington State singing the Chinese song "On the Fields of Hope" at Tsinghua University High School, these moments suggest that future China-US relations will be built upon more shared memories created by the next generations in both the recently concluded China Development Forum 2025, about one-third of the representatives of the 86 multinational companies were from the US, the largest proportion of any country. China has consistently upheld an open and inclusive stance, creating opportunities for more foreign friends to visit and understand the country as well as for more foreign businesses to deepen their presence in the Chinese market. Mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are the right way for the two great powers, China and the US, to get along with each other, and they also apply at the grassroots hope of the China-US relationship lies in the people, its foundation is in our societies and its future depends on the youth. Encouraging more interactions and communication between the people of China and the US and allowing genuine voices to cut through the fog of prejudice is both the call of the times and the direction for the future. When more individuals, like IShowSpeed and the "RedNote families," build bridges with sincerity, every grassroots encounter will write a new chapter of possibility. By reaching out to each other, the people of China and the US demonstrate that the door to better bilateral relations is opened by the people - and once opened, it will not be closed again. View original content: SOURCE Global Times Sign in to access your portfolio
Globe and Mail
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
CGTN Presents AI-Powered Animated Series Wonderful China Tour: Exploring a Different Side of China
Beijing, China--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2025) - As China's biggest political season gets underway with the Two Sessions, CGTN proudly presents its latest AI-powered animated series, Wonderful China Tour: Exploring a Different Side of China, offering a fresh perspective on the nation's dynamic transformation. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: Leveraging cutting-edge multimodal AI technology, the series reconstructs reality to explore key sectors such as smart agriculture, technological innovation, and social development. From intelligent manufacturing and digital payment ecosystems to cultural tourism and evolving consumer trends, Wonderful China Tour brings to life the synergy between rural revitalization and urban innovation. Through an immersive visual experience, the series captures China's high-quality development, highlighting the economic momentum driven by consumption upgrades and open trade. By harnessing AI-driven storytelling, global audiences can transcend geographical boundaries and gain deeper insights into China's technological advancements, industrial transformation, and societal progress. As part of CGTN's AI-powered animation portfolio, Wonderful China Tour follows the narrative thread of "China Travel," blending AI technology with cultural storytelling to create a one-of-a-kind audiovisual experience. The series delves into the everyday life, rich heritage, and technological breakthroughs that define modern China, offering international audiences a multifaceted perspective on the country's development and its unique path to modernization. To view the source version of this press release, please visit
