PEOPLE from countries with diplomatic relations with China can visit the southern island province of Hainan visa-free for 144 hours via tour groups registered in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, said the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Tuesday. Effective Tuesday, the policy applies to all state-established open ports in the province and the travel scope is limited to the administrative region of Hainan, the NIA added. Each tour group must consist of at least two people, and the entire group must enter and exit together, according to the policy. The NIA said it will continue to optimize and improve regional visa-free entry policies, further advance a more open immigration management system and warmly welcome foreign nationals to visit China. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Tuesday welcomed the new visa-free policy. It said in a statement that the implementation of the policy will further promote the integration of the tourism markets of Hong Kong and Hainan, and inject new vitality into the tourism cooperation between the two places. The HKSAR government will communicate and coordinate with the relevant authorities of Hainan to ensure the smooth implementation of the policy, it said. In the first half of this year, China welcomed 14.64 million international visitors, a 153% leap from the previous year. Remarkably, 8.54 million entered through visa-free entry, a 190% surge, according to the National Immigration Administration. This influx is partly due to China’s 144-hour visa-free transit policy, which has opened doors for many first-time visitors. The expansion of China’s visa-free policy is a significant catalyst for the growth in inbound tourism. “With the continuous expansion of countries and ports eligible for China’s visa-free policy, inbound tourism continues to flourish, with an average daily influx of about 20,000 travelers in Guangzhou,” said Luo Kaiting, a staff member from Guangzhou Customs. “In the first half of this year, over 11,000 foreign visitors arrived through the policy via the Nanjing airport, a nearly 50-fold increase year-on-year,” said Tang Fanlong from Jiangsu’s general station of immigration inspection. “The visa-free policy saves me a lot of time traveling to China, and makes me feel China is open and welcoming to the world,” said Keawbuli Amnat, a Thai tourist who visited Nanjing in July.(Xinhua) | 