Shanghai international cruise ports report brisk traffic amid visa facilitation

SHANGHAI, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Over 180 entries and exits had been made by international cruise liners at Shanghai's cruise ports in the first half of this year, Shanghai border inspection authorities revealed on Thursday.

More than 840,000 people were aboard these cruise ships, according to the tally.

Furthermore, more than 45,000 entries and exits had been made by foreign visitors at the Shanghai cruise ports in the first six months of this year, with 18,000 inbound visits facilitated by various visa-free policies.

On June 28, more than 25,000 people entered and existed the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, a record high number for a single day this year.

Meanwhile, five international cruise liners used Shanghai as their home port, during the first half of this year.

Among them, China's first domestically built large cruise ship, Adora Magic City, embarked on its maiden voyage earlier this year and has since completed over 40 journeys.

So far, China is witnessing a faster than expected resurgence of inbound tourism.

China has implemented a visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from over a dozen countries and allowed visa-free entry for foreign tourist groups aboard cruise ships at all cruise ship ports along the country's coastline.