New regulations, which came into effect Wednesday, allow tour groups to enter through one of 13 coastal cruise ports in China and stay for up to 15 days in select provinces in the country. The policy will help accelerate the development of China's cruise industry and it's efforts to open back to the world following it's period of strict pandemic restrictions,

China will allow visa-free entry for foreign tour groups that come to the country via cruise ships in a further bid to attract international visitors and boost its sluggish inbound travel market.

Microsoft is asking about 700 to 800 people in its China-based cloud-computing and artificial-intelligence operations to consider transferring outside the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The company has reportedly offered around 700 to 800 staffers, mostly Chinese engineers, to relocate to countries including the U.S., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.