China resumes outbound tours to 20 countries

The list does not include Vietnam, but seven other Southeast Asian countries - Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The rest are Argentina, Cuba, Egypt, Fiji, Hungary, Kenya, Maldives, New Zealand, Russia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates, The China Daily reported.

The Chinese government had banned domestic travel agents from selling overseas travel packages since January 2020 after Covid started spreading in China.

China used to be the largest source of tourists in Southeast Asia before the pandemic hit.

The world’s second largest economy reopened its borders on January 8 after three years of sticking to its zero-Covid policy.

The reopening has created hopes that Vietnam, where Chinese tourists were the biggest market feeder pre-Covid, could achieve its target of receiving 8 million foreign arrivals this year, compared to 3.5 million in 2022.