A tourist group from Poland visited Master of the Nets Garden, a classical garden in Suzhou. (Photo courtesy cctv.com)

Jiangsu Province handled more than 346,900 inbound and outbound foreign passengers in the first half of the year, marking a 54.59% year-on-year increase.

The passengers included 173,900 foreign tourists, representing a 180% increase over the same period last year.

Notably, over 125,000 foreign passengers passed through Nanjing Lukou International Airport, up 120% year-on-year. This number included 110,000 foreign passengers benefiting from China’s visa-free policy, an increase of nearly 50 times compared to last year.

Since December 1, China has implemented a unilateral visa-free policy for travellers from 15 countries, including France, Germany and Australia. China has also signed mutual visa exemptions with Singapore, Thailand, Antigua and Barbuda, and Georgia, significantly boosting the number of foreign passengers travelling for tourism, business and family visits.