By Xinlu Liang

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Visa-free entries into China by foreign nationals rose by more than half in the first eight months of the year, with visitors from Southeast Asia accounting for a big part of the growth.
The National Immigration Administration (NIA) said on Thursday that foreign nationals made 15.89 million visa-free entries from January to August.
The NIA did not give a total for the number of entries during the period but did say that visa-free entries made up roughly two-thirds of international arrivals, suggesting the total was more than 25 million.
State news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday that nationals from Asean countries made more than 9 million trips to China under visa-free arrangements, accounting for the overwhelming majority of the 10.74 million entries by people from those nations.
One of the major developments in this area was the reciprocal visa-free agreement with Malaysia, which came into effect on July 17.
Since then, Malaysian passport holders have made 180,000 trips to China – 150,000 without visas, according to Xinhua.
Russia is expected to be another major source of visa-free arrivals to China.

Since Monday, Russians have been able to stay in China for up to 30 days without a visa. Previously, Russian citizens were permitted to stay in mainland China for up to 10 days visa-free when transiting to a third country – a policy introduced in late 2023 as part of China’s broader push to attract foreign visitors.
On the first day of the new policy, 1,023 Russian travellers – 890 of whom did not use a visa – entered China through Heilongjiang province in China’s northeast, double the number the previous day, Chinese financial news site Yicai reported on Tuesday.
From January to August, the NIA inspected 460 million inbound and outbound travellers, a rise of 14.9 per cent compared to the same period last year.
China is trying to encourage international travel and deepen global ties after years of strict pandemic controls reduced arrivals and departures to a trickle.
“The sustained growth in port entries and exits is a direct result of China’s continuous expansion of opening-up,” the NIA said.
“More Chinese citizens are travelling abroad, and more foreigners are coming to China for business, tourism, to work, to study and to live.”
The administration said that to manage this surge, it had streamlined entry procedures, including deploying enough border inspection personnel to ensure that all available inspection channels were operational to maintain efficient port clearance.