On March 16, 2025, the large cruise ship "AIDA stella" under the German AIDA Cruise Company berthed in Baoshan, Shanghai for the first time, bringing about 2,200 inbound foreign tourists to China. On the same day, the Royal Caribbean "Ocean Spectrum" operated by Wusongkou International Cruise Port as its home port also brought more than 2,600 inbound foreign tourists. Wusongkou International Cruise Port has about 4,800 inbound foreign tourists in a single day, setting a new record for the highest entry of foreign tourists in a single day in a Chinese cruise home port.
As my country's visa policy becomes increasingly open, 240-hour transit visa-free and unilateral visa-free policies have become powerful engines to attract foreign tourists to China on cruise ships. According to data from the Pujiang Border Inspection Station, among the foreign passengers of the two cruise ships, 28.2% of the passengers applied for 240-hour transit visa-free, and 60.9% of the passengers applied for unilateral visa-free policy, which became a vivid footnote under the favorable policy.
In recent years, Shanghai Baoshan, as an important development area of China's cruise economy, has created a "good tour" and more "easy to travel" for international tourists, showing the image of Shanghai's international metropolis that is more open, inclusive, confident and vibrant.
In addition, the CGTN and Shanghai General Station organized an interview activity "Follow the Movie Tour China" at Wusong International Cruise Port. Many foreign tourists highly praised and evaluated Chinese culture and film art, and also looked forward to more and more Chinese films being released around the world.
(Reporter Xu Mingjia, Zhu Huang Yingzhe, Reporter)
