Bigger scope of visa-free policy highlighted

Move will help woo more travelers, boost consumption and enhance opening-up

China should expand the scope of its unilateral visa-free policies and ramp up efforts in attracting foreign visitors, so as to further promote Chinese discourse and its narrative systems, said Wang Yu, president of Spring Airlines.

Wang, who is also a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, submitted multiple proposals during the ongoing two sessions.

During his eight-year engagement as an attendee in the two sessions, Wang included measures to boost inbound tourism in six of those years, making it a central focus of his proposals.

Founded 20 years ago, Shanghai-based Spring Airlines, a budget private carrier, has become one of the most profitable airlines in China. The company plans to increase capacity and is fully confident about the development of China's private economy.

Since late 2023, China has launched unilateral visa-free policies to multiple countries, encouraging more foreign travelers to visit the nation. Last year, the number of foreign passenger trips to China through visa-free entries reached 20.12 million, surging 112.3 percent year-on-year, according to the National Immigration Administration.

"The optimization of a series of entry policies is a firm signal of China's high-standard opening-up, and it has helped enhance global confidence in the stability and inclusiveness of the China market," Wang said.

Developing tourism is an important way to boost consumption. Promoting inbound tourism can help drive growth in related upstream and downstream sectors such as transportation, accommodation, catering and retail, he added.

According to UN Tourism, every 1 yuan ($0.14) in tourism revenue can drive related industries to increase their income by 4.3 yuan. Every additional job position created can indirectly provide employment for seven people and effectively stimulate domestic consumption.

Since China implemented unilateral visa-free policies for South Korea and Japan in November, Spring Airlines' sales volume of flight tickets between China and South Korea, as well as China and Japan, grew by 67 percent and 57 percent, respectively, over the levels seen in October.

For its flights between Shanghai Pudong and Pusan, South Korea, the proportion of South Korean travelers reached 80 percent, its highest level during the Spring Festival holiday period this year, the carrier said.

Besides, the popularity of China's ice and snow tourism this winter attracted a large number of international travelers. For Spring Airlines' route from Thailand to Harbin, Heilongjiang province, Thai tourists accounted for over 45 percent during the Spring Festival break.

Over the Spring Festival holiday, inbound tourism orders surged by more than 150 percent over the same period last year. The main source countries for inbound visitors included South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, the United States and Australia, according to Trip.com Group, China's largest online travel agency.

Some popular domestic destinations for foreign tourists included Shanghai; Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong province; Beijing; Harbin, Heilongjiang; Chengdu, Sichuan province; and Xiamen, Fujian province, Trip.com found.

The booming tourism market has driven growth in the civil aviation sector. The number of international flights operated by Spring Airlines ranks fourth in China, after State-owned Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.

Specifically, Spring Airlines holds 54 percent of the flights connecting Chinese cities and Jeju, South Korea. For those flying between Chinese cities and Osaka, Japan, it boasts over 34 percent. For both routes, the company makes up for the highest market shares, fully driving passenger exchanges between China and Japan, and China and South Korea, it said.

In his proposal, Wang has suggested that China continuously strengthen the management of the tourism market and promote the building of a more convenient tourism reception system.

"China should continuously improve the convenience of mobile payments for inbound tourists, as well as online bookings of domestic flights, and the accurate translation of road signs in foreign languages," Wang said.