China’s experiment with large-scale unilateral visa waivers appears to be paying off. According to data released on 18 July by the National Immigration Administration (NIA) and reported by People’s Daily Online, 22.91 million foreign nationals entered mainland China between January and June 2026, a year-on-year jump of 20.4 percent. Of those visitors, 17.82 million—fully 77.7 percent—took advantage of the 30-day visa-free entry program that Beijing has gradually expanded to 50 countries over the past two years. The surge is being felt most sharply in major commercial hubs. Shanghai Pudong handled 4.3 million visa-free passengers in six months, while Shenzhen’s land ports processed 2.1 million, officials said. Tourism platforms Fliggy and Trip.com both report that bookings by German, French and Australian passport-holders—newly added to the waiver list—are running at more than double last year’s level. Airlines have responded by restoring pre-pandemic frequencies on Europe-China routes and adding widebody capacity over the busy northern-summer season. Beyond tourism dollars, the numbers matter for corporate mobility managers. Visa-free entry removes two to three weeks of lead-time for urgent technical-service trips and plant-start-ups—an increasingly common requirement as multinational manufacturers ramp up operations in China’s interior provinces. Several Fortune 500 companies told the author they have already revised their global travel policies: staff from eligible passport groups are now permitted to book travel to China on 48-hours’ notice provided the stay is under 30 days and no remunerated work is performed in-country. The influx also highlights capacity constraints. NIA says average immigration-counter processing time at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) has fallen to 41 seconds per passenger thanks to 120 additional e-gates installed since April, yet peak-hour queues can still exceed 35 minutes. The agency pledged to open dedicated “business traveler” channels at seven airports before Golden Week in October and to issue a second batch of digital arrival-cards that preload frequent-traveler data. For mobility professionals, the immediate takeaway is that China is unlikely to reverse course. Officials confirmed that the current visa-waiver trial will run at least until 31 December 2026, and cabinet-level discussions are under way to make the program permanent for OECD countries that sign reciprocal short-stay arrangements. Companies should therefore audit their traveler profiles, ensure that HRIS systems capture passport nationality, and brief employees on permitted activities (no paid employment, journalism or long-term study) to avoid inadvertent violations.
Source: People’s Daily Online
