Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

• China extends visa-free transit stays to 10 days;
• China's air-passenger transport hits record high in 2024.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

China has tripled the amount of time visitors can spend in the country without a visa in yet another move to entice more foreign tourists.

The National Administration of Immigration announced the country will expand its visa-free layover periodto 240 hours across the board.

Effective immediately, 21 additional ports have been designated for visa-free entry and exit.

Under the updated policy, eligible citizens from 54 countries, including Russia, Brazil, Britain, the United States and Canada, can enter China visa-free when transiting to a third country or region.

These travelers may now enter through any of the 60 ports across 24 provinces, regions and municipalities and stay within the designated areas for up to 10 days.

On December 1, 2023, China began implementing unilateral visa-free entry trials for ordinary passport holders from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. The policies were later expanded several times to more countries, as a part of China’s continuous effort to revitalizeinternational tourism and strengthen global connections. Passport holders from 38 countries now can enter China visa-free for up to 30 days, including most European countries, east and southeast Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.

According to the latest statistics cited by state media, from January to November 2024, more than 29 million foreigners entered the country, a year-on-year increase of 86.2 percent. Of these, 17 million entered under the visa-free program, a year-on-year increase of 123.3 percent.

The number of foreigners entering China in the third quarter of the year reached a record high, according to data from the NIA.

Visa simplification isn’t the only change China has made to entice foreign tourists.

Its two biggest e-payment apps, WeChat and AliPay, now accept non-Chinese credit cards, have built-in translation software and streamlined identity verification processes.

Next on industry and company news

• Chinese airlines have recorded over 700 million passenger trips so far this year, marking a record high in the history of China's civil aviation development, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Monday. As of Sunday, the country's airlines reported a total of 700.48 million passenger trips since the start of the year. The total number of air-passenger trips for 2023 was 620 million.
• China on Monday announced plans for 12 winter tourism-themed travel routes across the country, aiming to further activate the ice and snow economy during the 2024-25 winter season.The 12 travel routes are set in Beijing, Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province, the three provinces in Northeast China, North China's Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Central China's Henan Province and Hubei Province, as well as Northwest China's Shaanxi Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
• Alibaba plans to sell its 99 percent stake in its department store chain Intime to a buyer consortium consisting of Chinese clothing and property firm Youngor, and members of Intime's management team, with deal will be worth about 7.4 billion yuan, the Chinese e-commerce giant said today.
• Walmart China and Meituan announced a tie-up in instant delivery, product diversity, product operations, digital customer capabilities, and digital marketing today. The US retail giant's stores in China integrate Meituan's food delivery services.

Switching gears to financial news

• China's Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) announced on Monday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Qatar Stock Exchange. Under the agreement, the two exchanges will explore collaborative opportunities in areas such as exchange-traded fund (ETF) products, data and index products.
• China's fiscal income rose at the fastest pace of this year in November, mainly because the latest incremental policy package promoted economic recovery. General public budget revenue soared 11 percent to 1.4 trillion yuan last month from a year earlier, compared to 5.5 percent in October, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance yesterday.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

• Chinese stocks fell on Tuesday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite down 0.7 percent and the Shenzhen Component down 0.35 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.5 percent and the TECH index inched down 0.6 percent.

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

Presented by SFC