Inbound tourism is roaring back to China, but the industry may not be ready, according to a Caixin Global deep-dive published late on 3 July. The report cites official data showing 35.2 million foreign entries in 2025 (+30.5 % YoY and 10 % above 2019), with more than 70 % of travellers arriving visa-free after Beijing extended 30-day exemptions to 50 countries and loosened transit rules.
![Caixin: Visa-Free Push Drives Inbound Tourism Past Pre-Covid Levels, but Service Shortfalls Loom]()
Even with wider visa-free access, millions of would-be visitors still need entry documents, and this is where VisaHQ can step in. The company’s dedicated China portal offers up-to-date guidance on exemptions, fast online applications and real-time tracking, giving tourists and corporate travel planners an easy fallback when consular procedures get murky.
Much of the recovery is being powered by policy and technology. Foreign-card acceptance on Alipay soared 142 % last year, while Trip.com logged 20 million inbound bookings. Shanghai Pudong International Airport set a single-day record of 27 000 foreign arrivals on 13 March 2026, highlighting latent demand once procedural barriers fall. Yet Caixin warns of bottlenecks: smaller cities lack multilingual tour guides, service quality is uneven and many potential visitors remain unaware of the new visa perks. Universities are scaling back foreign-language tourism programs, raising concern over a future talent crunch just as Trip.com pledges RMB 1 billion to AI-driven inbound infrastructure. For corporates, the rebound brings opportunities and challenges. More direct flights and relaxed entry rules make China easier for regional meetings, but the shortage of qualified guides and interpreters outside Beijing and Shanghai could hinder plant visits or MICE events in secondary hubs. Travel managers may need to budget for private guides or remote interpretation until the talent pipeline recovers. The takeaway: policy momentum is real, demand is back, but service capacity must catch up if China wants to turn curiosity into sustained economic gain.
Even with wider visa-free access, millions of would-be visitors still need entry documents, and this is where VisaHQ can step in. The company’s dedicated China portal offers up-to-date guidance on exemptions, fast online applications and real-time tracking, giving tourists and corporate travel planners an easy fallback when consular procedures get murky.
Much of the recovery is being powered by policy and technology. Foreign-card acceptance on Alipay soared 142 % last year, while Trip.com logged 20 million inbound bookings. Shanghai Pudong International Airport set a single-day record of 27 000 foreign arrivals on 13 March 2026, highlighting latent demand once procedural barriers fall. Yet Caixin warns of bottlenecks: smaller cities lack multilingual tour guides, service quality is uneven and many potential visitors remain unaware of the new visa perks. Universities are scaling back foreign-language tourism programs, raising concern over a future talent crunch just as Trip.com pledges RMB 1 billion to AI-driven inbound infrastructure. For corporates, the rebound brings opportunities and challenges. More direct flights and relaxed entry rules make China easier for regional meetings, but the shortage of qualified guides and interpreters outside Beijing and Shanghai could hinder plant visits or MICE events in secondary hubs. Travel managers may need to budget for private guides or remote interpretation until the talent pipeline recovers. The takeaway: policy momentum is real, demand is back, but service capacity must catch up if China wants to turn curiosity into sustained economic gain.
