An aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 11, 2024 shows a view of the Starlight Night Market in Jinghong City in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Meng Tao)

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- China released on Monday a new visa relaxation policy, allowing tour groups from ASEAN countries to visit Xishuangbanna, a popular tourist destination in the country's southwestern Yunnan Province, visa free for up to six days.

This move is aimed at boosting tourism in southwest China. It is also expected to expand opening up, promote personnel exchanges and help deepen the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) said in a statement.

The NIA added that tourist groups from ASEAN countries organized by Chinese travel agencies can enter Xishuangbanna via the Xishuangbanna Gasa International Airport, the Mohan railway port and the Mohan highway port.

ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

China has continued easing its visa policies to boost opening up and people-to-people exchanges, allowing more foreign travelers and business people to visit the country visa free. So far, China has established comprehensive mutual visa exemptions with 25 countries, implemented unilateral visa-free policies for 38 countries, and transit visa-free policies for 54 countries.

Thanks to visa-free policies and facilitation measures, more foreign travelers visited China during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, which ran from Jan. 28 to Feb. 4.

According to the NIA, China recorded 958,000 cross-border trips made by foreigners during the holiday -- up 22.9 percent compared with the Spring Festival holiday last year.