(Yicai) July 31 -- China has begun letting groups of foreign tourists enter the southern island province of Hainan through the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao for 144 hours without a visa to attract more travelers.

Holders of ordinary passports from countries that are eligible for six-day visa-free transit can join groups organized by local travel agencies in the SARs to go to Hainan, the National Immigration Administration announced yesterday. But they cannot continue to other provinces.

China introduced its first 72-hour and 144-hour visa-free transit policies in 2013. As of this month, more than 20 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, have implemented such policies for citizens of 54 countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, and Japan.

The widening scope of relaxed entry is bearing fruit as in the first half, the number of foreign tourists who came to China jumped by 152 percent to 14.6 million from a year ago. At 8.5 million, almost 60 percent of them came without a visa, up nearly three times, according to data disclosed by the NIA.

Since the beginning of this year, the number of inbound trips to Hainan soared by 84 percent, per online travel agency Trip.Com Group. More people are making their way to the beach destination from Hong Kong and Macao as such trips increased by 60 percent year-over-year. Most foreign tourists are nationals of countries such as Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and Australia.

In February, the immigration administration expanded the scope of visa-free travel in Hainan to business travel, family visits, medical tourism, conventions, and exhibitions, as well as sporting events. This means that citizens of 59 nations could stay for up to 30 days for a variety of reasons besides tourism.

Editor: Emmi Laine