Visa-Free Policy Fuels Surge in Foreign Tourists to China's Sanya

Sanya, a resort city on China's southern island province of Hainan, welcomed more than 716,000 foreign tourists in the first six months of the year, a 50% increase compared with the same period a year earlier, according to official data cited by the local newspaper Sanya Ribao and reported by Russian news agency TASS.

Local authorities attributed the sharp rise in foreign visitor numbers to the expansion of visa-free entry policies, which have made it easier for tourists from a growing number of countries to travel to the city without obtaining a visa in advance.

Sanya, known for its beaches and tropical climate, has positioned itself as a major international tourism destination within Hainan, which China has designated as a free trade port aimed in part at boosting inbound travel and consumption.

TASS did not provide additional details on which nationalities accounted for the increase or specify further breakdowns of the visitor data beyond the overall percentage change cited from Sanya Ribao.