China sees 22.9% jump in border crossings by foreign travelers during Spring Festival holiday

Immigration officer Chen Miao (1st R) handles transit visa exemption procedures for tourists from the USat the immigration area of Beiing Capital lnternational Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 28, 2025. (Photo/Xinhua)

During the recently concluded 8-day-long Spring Festival holiday in China, border authorities across the country processed 14.37 million border crossings. Among them, foreign nationals’ inbound and outbound crossings totaled 958,000, marking a 22.9% increase year-on-year, data from National Immigration Administration (NIA) showed on Wednesday.

Total border crossings during the festival season rose by 6.3 percent year-on-year. Of the number, 7.67 million crossings were made by Chinese mainland residents, up 5 percent year-on-year; travelers from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and the Taiwan island made 5.74 million crossings, up 5.6 percent year-on-year, NIA data showed.

Authorities inspected 525,000 inbound and outbound crossing vehicles, including aircraft, vessels, trains, and cars, representing a 14.4-percent year-on-year increase. Immigration clearance at sea, land, and airports remained efficient and orderly, NIA said.