CCTV News: Recently, a global poll showed that more than 90% of respondents believed that China's economy will continue to grow in the next ten years, and nearly 60% believed that China is the main driving force for world economic growth; nearly 70% of respondents expected that China would participate more in international affairs in the future or play a greater role. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference held on the 14th that relevant data show that China's "circle of friends" is getting bigger and bigger.

Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Guo Jiakun: Relevant data show that China's "circle of friends" is getting bigger and bigger. As the world's second largest economy, China insists on high-quality development and high-level opening up to the outside world, and its contribution to world economic growth has remained at a high level for a long time. As the largest developing country, China is concerned about the "Global South" and is rooted in the "Global South" and supports the "Global South" countries to achieve social development and improvement of people's livelihood.

The spokesperson also stated that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China adheres to true multilateralism, upholds an objective and fair stance, and plays a constructive role in promoting the political resolution of hot issues, which has been widely recognized by the international community.

Guo Jiakun: No matter how the international situation changes, China will continue to be a force for peace, growth, progress and goodness, work with all countries to safeguard world peace, promote common development, promote mutual learning in civilizations, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

News Observation: China's inbound tourism market continues to be hot

As the transit visa-free policy continues to be relaxed and optimized, the popularity of foreigners entering China continues to rise. The State Immigration Administration released data on the 14th: In 2024, 20.115 million foreigners entering the country without visa-free visa-free at all ports across the country, an increase of 112.3% year-on-year. After the comprehensive relaxation of the optimization policy, the number of people coming to China applied this policy increased by 29.5% month-on-month. It has become a reality for foreign tourists to travel to China "as they say it" and China's inbound tourism market continues to be popular.

China's transit visa-free policy continues to be relaxed and optimized

In 2024, the State Immigration Administration successively launched 240-hour transit visa-free and visa-free in foreign tourist groups entering the country by cruise ships, and continued to optimize the policies of transit visa-free, regional entry visa-free, and port visa-free, and implemented 24-hour direct transit inspection procedures at 9 hub airports including the capital of Beijing. With the comprehensive relaxation and optimization of China's transit visa-free policy, the stay time for transit visa-free foreigners in China has been extended from the original 72 hours and 144 hours to 240 hours. The total number of applicable ports for the policy has increased from 39 to 60, and the total number of applicable provinces has increased from 19 to 24.

Promote convenience to meet the multiple needs of foreign tourists

All localities continue to promote the convenience of payment, accommodation and transportation for foreign personnel, and meet the diversified payment needs of foreign tourists through payment methods such as large-value card swiping, small-value code scanning, and cash guarantee.

In 2024, the State Immigration Administration issued a total of 1.476 million port visas, an increase of 87.3% year-on-year, providing convenience for 72,000 people to apply for visa extension and replacement for nearby visas. The number of people applying the transit visa-free policy increased by 113.5% year-on-year, especially after the comprehensive relaxation of the optimization policy, the number of people applying this policy to China increased by 29.5% month-on-month. The Chinese inbound tourism market continued to be popular, and the media traffic of the "China Travel" theme exceeded 1 billion on the international Internet, and "Go to China after get off work on Friday" has become a new international boom.

Facilities to China inject new momentum into tourism development

Related reports show that while the number of inbound tourists and consumption in China has grown rapidly, the satisfaction of foreign tourists is also steadily increasing. Convenient channels to China not only promote personnel exchanges and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, but also enrich the inbound tourism forms, accelerate the process of integrated regional tourism cooperation, and inject new impetus into promoting the coordinated development of all-region tourism.