China’s inbound Lunar New Year travel surges over 200% as visa-free policies pay off

China has logged a more than 200 per cent increase in inbound travel bookings for this year’s Lunar New Year period, driven mainly by its expanding visa-waiver scheme, according to official data and people on the ground.

Inbound travel bookings were up 203 per cent compared with the 2024 holiday period, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced via the social app WeChat.

Many foreigners chose to visit China during the festive period to watch lion dances and don traditional Chinese attire known as “hanfu”, the ministry said.

Travel marketing firm China Trading Desk found that inbound bookings by holders of non-Chinese passports for the 2025 holiday had risen 70 per cent compared with last year, according to the firm’s CEO Subramania Bhatt.

South Korea, the United States, Australia, Malaysia and Canada were the top five sources of travellers to China during that period, Bhatt said.

Shanghai was China’s busiest gateway for international arrivals, with some parts of the city becoming so crowded with tourists that eateries were forced to turn away customers.