China launched a visa-free policy on May 15, 2024, allowing international tourist groups arriving by cruise ships to enter designated ports without visas, boosting inbound tourism and simplifying travel procedures.

The policy applies to 13 national-level cruise ports across the country: Tianjin, Dalian in Liaoning province, Shanghai, Lianyungang in Jiangsu province, Wenzhou and Zhoushan in Zhejiang province, Xiamen in Fujian province, Qingdao in Shandong province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Beihai in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, and Haikou and Sanya in Hainan province.

Under this policy, groups organized and hosted by Chinese domestic travel agencies, consisting of two or more individuals, can enter China without a visa through any designated coastal cruise port and stay for up to 15 days.

These groups must depart China on the same cruise ship they arrived on, with their travel restricted to coastal provinces, municipalities, and Beijing.

Since its implementation, the policy has significantly boosted inbound tourism. By May 13, 2025, Shanghai's Pujiang Border Inspection Station, part of the Shanghai General Border Inspection Station, had processed over 580 cruise ship arrivals and departures, handling more than 2.26 million passenger movements.

During the 2025 May Day holiday, Shanghai's cruise port saw its first four-ship docking of the year, welcoming the Adora Magic City, Spectrum of the Seas, Blue Dream Melody, and Seven Seas Voyager. This, combined with the holiday travel surge, resulted in nearly 30,000 passenger movements in a single day, marking the highest in three years.

(Updated on Aug 13, 2025)

Sources: chinadaily.com.cn, CCTV News