BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) -- China saw steady growth in railway passenger trips in the first four months of the year, with increases in both passenger volume and service quality, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway).

A total of 1.56 billion railway passenger trips were made nationwide during the January-April period, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier, said China Railway.

Fueled by growing enthusiasm among overseas visitors for traveling across China, the country's railway network recorded 7.83 million foreign passenger trips in the first four months of 2026, a surge of 33.9 percent year on year, the data showed.

The railway operator said it has expanded multilingual services and introduced other travel conveniences to accommodate rising inbound demand driven by the country's expanded visa-free policies.

China has expanded visa-free policies for foreign travelers in recent years, allowing longer stays and wider travel, while also introducing conveniences such as instant tax refunds for departing visitors.

During this period, cross-border rail travel also continued to grow, with the China-Laos Railway carrying 143,000 passengers, up 36.3 percent from a year earlier, while the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway handled 11.78 million cross-border trips, an increase of 14.8 percent, China Railway revealed. ■