Cruise tourism in China sees significant growth as visa restrictions ease
China welcomes a surge in international visitors as visa-free policies attract 9 million travelers in early 2025, marking a 40% year-on-year increase amid national economic recalibration efforts
China’s coastal cities are experiencing a significant revival in international cruise tourism, driven by relaxed visa policies and improved accessibility for foreign visitors, according to China Daily.
Shanghai’s Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal has become a focal point of this resurgence, recording 78 cruise calls and over 480,000 passenger visits in Q1 2025, including nearly 30,000 international visitors. This represents a substantial increase from the same period in 2024, which saw only 28 cruise calls and 192,000 passenger visits, with just 2,900 foreign visitors.
This upswing follows China’s introduction of a 15-day visa-free policy for international cruise tour groups in May 2024, along with simplified transit and departure procedures for eligible foreign cruise travelers.
When compared to pre-pandemic figures, the growth is notable. The 2025 statistics show a 44.44% increase in cruise calls and a 7.7% rise in total passenger volume compared to Q1 2019. International visits have recovered to approximately 75% of 2019 levels.
A new record was set on March 16 when the terminal welcomed 4,800 international arrivals in one day—the highest daily volume of foreign cruise passengers since its opening in 2011. Adding to this momentum, two major international cruise ships—AIDAstella and Mein Schiff 6—made their first visits to Shanghai this year.
TUI Cruise’s Mein Schiff 6 returned to Shanghai's Wusongkou terminal on April 19–20, 2025 with over 2,000 passengers, about 90% of whom are from Germany and Nordic countries
“Policies like the 240-hour visa-free transit have significantly boosted the appeal of cruise tourism,” said Peng Zhaoyun from Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal Development Co., Ltd. “A spontaneous trip to China has become a real option for international travelers.”
This cruise tourism growth is part of China’s broader strategy to position itself as a global tourism destination. Since December 2023, China has extended unilateral visa-free access to travelers from 38 countries for stays up to 30 days. In late 2024, transit rules were further relaxed, allowing eligible travelers from 54 countries to enter through additional ports visa-free and stay for up to 10 days while en route to other destinations.
Foreign visitors can now link international credit cards to popular Chinese mobile payment platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay, while still having access to nearly 70,000 bank branches, 320,000 ATMs, and numerous currency exchange facilities nationwide.
These measures are proving effective. Since the implementation of the 240-hour visa-free transit policy in December 2024, Chinese ports have welcomed over 9 million inbound foreign travelers—a 40.2% increase year-on-year. Of these, 6.57 million entered visa-free, representing more than 71% of the total.
Other coastal cities are also experiencing growth in cruise tourism. Xiamen received five international cruise ships in Q1 2025, bringing nearly 3,000 foreign passengers. Tianjin International Cruise Home Port handled 105 international cruise calls and 357,400 passenger trips in 2024, with 90 cruise entries and exits projected for the first half of 2025 alone.
