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China's border reopening

Opinion | China’s tourism policy must now go beyond visa-free travel

China must make it easier for foreigners to experience the country and citizens to travel abroad if it wants to reconnect with the world.

China must make it easier for foreigners to experience the country and citizens to travel abroad if it wants to reconnect with the world

3 Aug 2024 - 5:30AMvideocam

First Hongkongers with foreign passports receive 5-year permits to visit mainland

31 Jul 2024 - 8:10PM

Taylor Swift is ‘walking GDP’: Shanghai urged to shake off curbs on foreign stars

19 Jul 2024 - 4:44PMvideocam

Hongkongers snap up tour bookings ahead of Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link opening

Road link to open on Sunday, as Hong Kong tourism sector eyes opportunities of shorter trips across Pearl River Delta.

28 Jun 2024 - 8:50PMvideocam

The 44.69 billion yuan project is expected to be a key link in the Greater Bay Area. Photo: Getty Images

Mainland retailers struggle to survive Hong Kong’s sky-high rents, competition

A tide of mainland Chinese retail brands expanding in Hong Kong appears to have ebbed, with several food and beverage chains ending their tenancies as their businesses come under pressure

25 Jun 2024 - 9:43AMvideocam

Beijing scraps reservation system for most tourist sites in time for summer

Visitors will still need to book ahead for the Forbidden City and National Museum.

22 Jun 2024 - 6:41PMvideocam

Beauty chain Sa Sa’s profit soars as mainlanders return to shop in Hong Kong

Hong Kong beauty products retailer Sa Sa International saw its profit jump almost fourfold in the last financial year as the number of mainland Chinese tourists returning to shop in the city continued to rise.

20 Jun 2024 - 7:39PMvideocam

The cosmetics chain reported a gain of 276 per cent in earnings to HK$218.9 million (US$28 million) for the year ended March 31. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Xiamen forum reveals state of tourism between mainland China and Taiwan

Straits Forum shows up Taiwanese concerns and the limitations of Beijing’s new policy.

17 Jun 2024 - 6:52PMvideocam

Shanghai stay or Shanghai go? Foreigners return but aren’t settling like before

A loosening of visa restrictions is finally luring back tourists to mainland China’s most international city, so why are they not staying to work like they used to?

12 Jun 2024 - 11:17AMvideocam

The FOMO is real for China’s eager emigrants who see a move as now or never

Middle-class Chinese with the means to move abroad see a rapidly closing window of opportunity as developed countries tighten immigration policies, and the race is on as applicant interest surges.

7 Jun 2024 - 6:00AMvideocam

Hong Kong’s Cathay urged to launch direct flights to 8 new travel scheme cities

Tommy Tam of the Society of IATA Passenger Agents says Cathay has ‘unshirkable responsibility’ to provide more direct flights to 8 new locations.

1 Jun 2024 - 8:58PM

Residents from eight more mainland Chinese cities can apply to visit Hong Kong from Monday without joining a tour group. Photo: Jelly Tse

Barrier to entry at China’s museums may translate to tourism losses

Visitors who cannot pre-book through Chinese apps – requiring a WeChat account and ability to read Chinese – are locked out of many attractions. These obstacles may affect China’s soft power abroad as well as tourism, say analysts.

3 Jun 2024 - 7:44PMvideocam

China’s medical testing sector downsizes as pandemic peak dissipates

With the end of pandemic control measures severely reducing the demand for medical testing services, China’s laboratories are facing massive declines in revenue and laying off large portions of their staff.

17 May 2024 - 6:30AMvideocam

China allows visa-free entries for 15 days at all cruise ports to lure tourists

The visa-policy easing is expected to boost tourism that has yet to fully rebound since the pandemic, and the move could also give local economies a jolt.

16 May 2024 - 10:25AMvideocam

A cruise ship is seen in waters off of Shanghai. China is allowing visa-free entries for foreigners who arrive via cruises. Photo: Getty Images

Health chief Ma Xiaowei steps down after steering China through Covid

Ma mobilised thousands of medical staff to help during major outbreaks while arguing in favour of stringent testing, quarantines and lockdowns.

6 May 2024 - 5:00PMvideocam

In the early days of the pandemic, then head of China’s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, gives a news conference on the outbreak of a new coronavirus. Ma has stepped down. Photo: Reuters

Foreigners spend 700% more on Alipay in China over Labour Day holiday

Beijing has introduced measures aimed at boosting inbound tourism, including visa-free travel for a number of European and Southeast Asian countries.

6 May 2024 - 12:04PMvideocam

KFC owner plans to tap less affluent customers in China’s smaller cities

Yum China Holdings, which owns the KFC and Pizza Hut restaurant chains in mainland China, plans to open more stores in ‘untapped’ parts of the country where it hopes its low-price strategy will appeal to vast numbers of less affluent customers.

30 Apr 2024 - 7:46PMvideocam

Foreigners make more trips to and from China, but still below pre-pandemic level

More than 13 million foreigners enter or exit mainland China in the first quarter of 2024 after Beijing introduces visa-free policies for countries in Europe and Southeast Asia.

19 Apr 2024 - 11:06AMvideocam

China’s immigration agency issued nearly 450,000 visas for foreigners in the first quarter of 2024, up 118.8 per cent year on year. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

Tourism trouble: post-pandemic hurdles of China travel

9 Apr 2024 - 8:00PM

Swire Properties to close Beijing hotel to make way for ‘retail landmark’

The 99-room The Opposite House, the group’s first hotel, will close after 16 years to make way for an ‘innovative retail landmark’ in the Taikoo Li Sanlitun area.

9 Apr 2024 - 10:38AM

China reports more trips by foreign travellers as visa-free policies take effect

Foreigners make 2.95 million trips to and from China in January and February, more than double the amount in the previous two-month period, with increase in visitors from France, Germany, Singapore and other countries covered by new visa rules.

29 Mar 2024 - 7:01PM

A German tourist visits the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on March 20. Since December, China has allowed travellers from Germany to enter without a visa for 15 days for business, tourism, family visits and transit. Photo: Xinhua

China international flights finally starting to rebound as border entries eased

Beijing has relaxed visa rules to attract more visitors in recent months, in line with intentions to stimulate a national economy beset by a property crunch, employment hurdles and hesitant consumer spending.

18 Mar 2024 - 6:34PMvideocam

Beijing Capital International Airport is seen packed in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year holiday last month. Photo: Bloomberg

AIA’s 2023 profit jumps 15% on insurance sales to mainland visitors

AIA Group’s new sales in Hong Kong and mainland China continued to grow in the first two months of the year, indicating strong momentum from last year is carrying over in its two major markets, according to its top boss.

14 Mar 2024 - 5:31PM

‘Beijing to make it easier for mainland China solo travellers to visit Hong Kong’

Mainland authorities likely to expand solo traveller scheme to help boost Hong Kong’s economy.

22 Feb 2024 - 8:33AM

Mainland customers spent US$7.6 billion on Hong Kong insurance policies in 2023

Policy sales have been boosted by the reopening of the mainland border, a weakening yuan and the interest rate gap between China and the United States, the Insurance Authority says.

20 Feb 2024 - 8:30AM

Last year, almost 34 million people visited Hong Kong, including more than 26.8 million from the mainland, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. This boosted sales of insurance policies, which jumped significantly compared to the three-year Covid-19 period. Photo: Dickson Lee

Editorial | Extended hours at mainland China border ease Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year travel woes

Extending the hours at Lo Wu and Shenzhen Bay border crossings run smoothly, boosting mainland visits to Hong Kong and supporting the local economy

15 Feb 2024 - 6:15AM

Lunar New Year travellers arriving at the Lo Wu border in Hong Kong, heading for mainland China. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

China opens up Hainan to more kinds of visa-free travel

Certain passport holders can now enter the island for up to 30 days not just for tourism but also business and family trips.

9 Feb 2024 - 8:04PMvideocam

Visa-free China travel may offer ‘additional stimulus’ Beijing is looking for

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 a lengthy application process.

6 Feb 2024 - 6:00AMvideocam

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China's border reopening

Latest news and updates about how China is racing to vaccinate the public and reach herd immunity to enable the country to reopen its borders as part of its economic recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.