Because "While that’s roughly double 2023’s low base, it’s still only 63% of 2019’s same-period level and well short of the near full recovery Beijing would have been hoping for as it slashed red tape."
Personally, I've made use of the visa-free entry policy twice to leave the airport for a few hours on a layover and spent exactly zero money in-country... Visitor-days might be a better metric than just counting visitors.
so a country lifts visa requirements to 50 or so countries, x2 visitor count in 12 months, and its reported as a failure.