A growing number of global tourists are eying trips to China following the country's decision to expand its visa-free policy to nine more countries, including Japan, Bulgaria and Romania.

The expanded visa-free policy, effective from November 30, 2024, to December 31, 2025, was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, bringing the total number of countries benefiting from China's visa-free policy to 38.

Following the announcement, searches for Chinese destinations on various travel platforms surged. On China's leading online travel agency Ctrip, such searches increased month-on-month by 65 percent in Europe and 112 percent in Japan. Inquiries for direct flights from many places in Japan to China also increased significantly.

South Korea is also seeing a surge in travel bookings to China after gaining visa-free entry in the fifth round of expansion, effective from this year's Nov 8 to December 31 next year.

According to the South Korean economic newspaper Aju Business Daily, bookings for group tours to China on a local online travel platform increased by 91 percent from Nov 1 to 5. South Korean airlines are also actively expanding their routes to China. Asiana Airlines has increased its Incheon-Beijing flights from 14 per week to 20.

Data shows that in the third quarter of this year, more than 8.1 million foreign nationals entered China, up 48.8 percent year on year. Among them, more than 4.8 million entered through visa-free entry, a yearly increase of over 78 percent.