(Yicai) May 15 -- All 13 cruise ports along the coast of China will allow visa-free entry to overseas tourists who are being received by Chinese travel agencies from now on, up from the seven that were already part of the visa waiver program, to help boost ocean-going tourism, according to the latest data.

Foreign groups with two or more tourists can enter China through cruise ports such as Tianjin, Shanghai, Dalian in northeastern Liaoning province and Xiamen in southeastern Fujian province without a visa, the National Immigration Administration said.

Dalian, Lianyungang, Wenzhou, Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beihai have been added to China’s transit visa-free policy to make it more convenient for foreign tourists on cruises to enter the country, the administration said.

Stays can be for no longer than 15 days and the group must travel with the same cruise ship until it leaves the country. Tourists can visit coastal provincial-level regions and Beijing.

China resumed international cruises from Chinese ports in September 2023 after a long suspension during Covid-19. More than 190,000 Chinese and foreign passengers travelled on Chinese cruise ships in the first quarter, a big jump from 107,000 last year. The cruise economy is expected to rise steadily this year.

Twenty-one international cruise ships dock at Chinese ports, the Ministry of Transport said today. This includes stopovers on popular routes such as Japan-South Korea cruises as well as Vietnam-Hong Kong ones.

Editor: Kim Taylor