In Depth: China Targets Payments Problem to Win Over Foreigners

Step by step, China has been encouraging more foreigners to enter the country since reopening after the pandemic, including waiving visa requirements for citizens from over a dozen more countries and making local digital payment services more international-user friendly. But tourists aren’t biting, at least not like they used to.

It has been more than a year since Beijing began allowing international travel en masse, but still flights and the flow of visitors from countries such as the U.S. are nowhere near 2019 levels. Sour relations with the West and years of strict “zero-Covid” curbs are partly responsible for the sharp reduction in the number of visitors to China.