China visa-free travel: relaxing entry restrictions adds up, with ‘additional stimulus’ eyed from more inbound trips
- Foreign visitors to mainland China say they are more willing to visit and splash out hundreds of US dollars a day on flights, retail spending and dining if they can get in for free and avoid troublesome applications
- As the world’s No 2 economy struggles with weakened consumer demand, Beijing has been trying to court foreign investors and tourists
French national Marc Guyon travelled to China on the first day that Beijing began allowing citizens of his homeland to enter visa-free.
For his weeklong trip to Shanghai and Beijing in early December, the Hong Kong-based gym operator saved himself from having to wait three months – at a cost of at least HK$1,500 (US$192) – for a mainland Chinese visa, as had been previously required.
And during that trip, the 39-year-old spent more than HK$10,000 while visiting fellow French people living on the mainland and building up a networking platform that he runs.
“I think what this policy makes different is that people who didn’t have to go to China would take a flight now and be open to more opportunities,” Guyon said.
Guyon’s story appears to illustrate exactly what China’s economic planners have in mind as they look to beef up tourism and investment by enticing foreigners to visit and spend, according to analysts who follow the country.
