China's 72-hour and 144-hour visa-free transit policies have been extended to visitors from 54 countries, with Norway being the latest addition to the list, an official from the National Immigration Administration said on Nov 17.

Visitors with such a transit visa exemption from these countries, including 40 from Europe, six from Asia and four from South America, are allowed to travel or conduct business-related activities in certain areas permitted by port visa authorities, said Mao Xu, director of the NIA's Department of Foreigners Management, during the China International Travel Mart 2023 held in Kunming, Yunnan province.

Some 20 big cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong province, Nanjing in Jiangsu province and Chengdu in Sichuan province, apply the 144-hour visa-free transit policy. Changsha in Hunan province, Harbin in Heilongjiang province and Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region implement the 72-hour policy.

"We encourage travel agencies from home and abroad to help more foreign visitors come to China under these policies," said Mao.

By the end of October, the number of foreigners visiting China had touched 26.51 million, a robust growth since China optimized its COVID-19 policies, Mao added.