(Yicai) June 17 -- Australia has become the latest country to be included in China’s visa-free travel policy, prompting an immediate surge in travel inquiries. The move comes after visa waivers for New Zealand citizens were announced last week.

Within half an hour of the announcement, the number of searches for China-related keywords by Australian users limbed more than 80 percent on Trip.com compared to the previous day, the Chinese online travel agency said today.

So far this year, Australia has been the fifth-largest source of inbound tourists to China, with bookings soaring 155 percent compared to the same period of last year, Trip.com said. The most popular destinations include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Xiamen, Nanjing, and Xi'an.

The visa-free policy will boost tourism, as well as economic and trade interactions between China and Australia, said Qin Jing, vice president of Trip.Com Group. It will also benefit the more than one million Chinese people who live in Australia, Qin noted, making the process of returning home to visit family a lot more convenient.

Since the start of the year, the number of flights between China and Australia has continued to grow, with those operated by China Eastern Airlines, Xiamen Air, Sichuan Airlines, and Tianjin Airlines surpassing pre-pandemic levels. More than 10 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, now offer direct flights to Sydney.

But the only Australian carrier on the China-Australia route, Qantas Airways, announced last month that it will suspend flights to the Asian country by the end of next month. Chief Executive Cam Wallace said demand had not recovered as expected. Qantas will monitor demand and decide whether to resume the flights.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting