Ningbo, a port city in east China's Zhejiang Province, has held colorful cultural events for international sailors who arrive visa-free, allowing them to immerse themselves in Chinese lifestyle and cultural heritage.
China has relaxed visa-free transit to attract more overseas tourists since last year. The permitted stay for eligible foreign travelers was extended from 72 and 144 hours to 240 or 10 days in December last year. Eligible citizens from 54 countries, including Russia, Brazil, Britain, the United States, and Canada, can now enter China visa-free when transiting to a third country or region under the updated policy.
On Wednesday, four seamen were invited to experience lion dance, a Chinese traditional art form that combines martial arts and lion-costumed rhythmic dance.
Their host, Shen Haidi, is an inheritor of the "Meishan Lion Dance," one of Ningbo's municipal intangible cultural heritage. He performed and coached them to try the dance in his courtyard.
"I felt very good, because for me, it's a good pleasure to meet the new culture and [develop] a deeper understanding of Chinese culture," said Robert, a sailor.
Ningbo receives about 270,000 stopovers every year from international sailors who come on cargo ships.
Local authorities have helped facilitate travel for seamen, including streamlining entry procedures, improving transportation networks, offering more information services, and introducing financial services, so as to enable the international guests to learn more about China.
China's port city Ningbo holds cultural events for visa-free sailors
China will take further steps to expand high-standard opening-up and create a new landscape of win-win cooperation in 2026, which marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said in a recent interview with China Media Group.
Wang said opening up and cooperation for mutual benefit are integral to Chinese modernization. This year, China will actively expand voluntary opening up.
The country will steadily open up such areas as value-added telecommunications, biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, while accelerating comprehensive pilot and demonstration programs for expanded opening-up in the services sector, he noted.
"We will expand the scope and regions of unilateral opening-up and ensure the implementation of zero-tariff treatment on 100 percent of tariff lines for all African countries that have diplomatic relations with China. We will vigorously promote the effective implementation of policies for special customs operations of the Hainan Free Trade Port, further enhance the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, optimize the regional layout and coverage of pilot free trade zones, and support these zones in carrying out more robust institutional opening-up trials in areas such as market access, environmental standards and government procurement, so as to better leverage their role as comprehensive pilot platforms for reform and opening-up," said Wang.
Wang said China will promote the orderly planning of cross-border industrial and supply chains.
Efforts will be made to deepen economic and trade cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, enhance integration and connectivity across production and supply chains, and encourage cooperation in areas including green development, the digital economy, green minerals, new infrastructure and new energy so as to help build global production and supply chain partnerships that are equal, inclusive and constructive, he noted.
"We will give play to the platform role of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, expand overseas marketing networks and explore international markets through outward investment, achieve mutual promotion between investment and trade, and advance the integrated development of trade and investment. We will also improve the overseas comprehensive service system and the national-level overseas comprehensive service platform," said the minister.
In addition, China will participate constructively in global economic governance, according to the minister.
In 2026, Wang said, China will pursue flexible and pragmatic approaches to negotiate trade and investment agreements with more willing countries and regions, while strengthening economic and trade cooperation under multilateral frameworks such as BRICS, G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to further promote mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
China to expand high-standard opening-up to foster win-win cooperation: minister
