Around 214,000 people from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia entered China in December 2023, an increase of 28.5 percent compared with November, said the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Monday.

China's unilateral visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from these countries took effect on December 1.

Of these inbound trips, 118,000 were made by ordinary passport holders without a visa, accounting for 55.1 percent of all inbound trips from the six countries during this period. Around 91,000 visa-free entries were made for travel and business.

Thanks to the visa-free policy, ports in the southern Chinese city of Nanning welcomed many inbound travelers. A total of 121 inbound travel groups accounting for nearly 2,800 people entered China through ports in Nanning in December.

Since the inception of the visa-free policy, ports in Beijing had, by December 31, witnessed more than 12,000 visa-free entries from the relevant countries.

The NIA pledged more optimized entry-exit management policies for foreigners to facilitate their business, study, work and life in China.