Visa-free policy brings Chengdu biz, tourism boost

Making national headlines several times, Chengdu's 72-hour visa-free policy has attracted wide attention from both Chinese and foreign experts and businessmen since it took effect on Sept 1 last year.

The program permits citizens from 51 countries and regions including the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan who have valid visas and flight tickets to a third country to spend three days in the city.

The capital of Sichuan province is the first city in the western region of China to offer foreign tourists a three-day visa and the fourth nationwide to adopt the policy following Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.