CHINESE hotels with three-star ratings or more have been told to accept payments with foreign bank cards, as the government tries to make it easier for visitors to travel in the country and give the ailing economy a boost.

Major tourist attractions have also been instructed to accept overseas bank cards, as well as support payments in cash and increase foreign-exchange services, according to a joint statement from departments including the People’s Bank of China and Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Tuesday (Apr 9).

Visitors from overseas face challenges in making payments in China, where local payment systems have become ubiquitous. Even vendors at street stalls rarely accept cash anymore, opting instead for platforms such as WeChat Pay and Alipay.

China has been trying to attract tourists in the wake of the pandemic, when it enforced some of the world’s harshest lockdowns and persisted with restrictions long after other countries had abandoned them. As part of that, the government has expanded a list of countries whose citizens can enter without a visa.

China recorded 35.5 million entries and exits by foreign nationals last year, according to the National Immigration Administration, a big jump from deeper in the Covid crisis in 2022, but still only about a third of the figure in 2019. BLOOMBERG