China's Immigration officials said that throughout the New Year holiday period, arrivals and departures from the mainland returned to pre-COVID levels, exceeding expectations.
Amid New Year Holiday
In a report by South China Morning Post, the National Immigration Administration said Tuesday, January 2, that there was a fivefold rise compared to the previous year, with 5.18 million crossings throughout mainland China between December 30, 2023, and January 1, 2024.
It amounts to 1.73 million people entering and leaving the country per day, which is more than the 1.56 million predicted by the government. It brought the number of passengers arriving and departing to the same level as in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak in China.
With 135 million trips taken countrywide during the New Year break, domestic travel also made a strong comeback, according to figures from the tourism ministry.
That was a 155.3% increase from the previous year's level and a nearly 10% increase from 2019 levels before the pandemic. From the New Year's holiday in 2019, tourism revenue increased by 5.6%, and from the same period in 2022, it increased by a factor of three.
During the holiday, 2.51 million people entered mainland China, and 2.67 million left, according to the immigration department.
Diplomatic Relations
This news comes at a time when Beijing is attempting to revive its flagging economy, which has taken a blow due to the COVID-19 pandemic, by actively courting tourists from across the world.
The government said on Monday, January 1, that there was a 28.5% increase from the previous month in the number of travelers arriving in December 2023, with almost 214,000 individuals traveling from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia.
The increase was a direct result of a new policy that went into effect on December 1, 2023, that permits citizens of the six nations to visit China for a maximum of 15 days without a visa, up until this coming November 30.
Immigration statistics show that over 77% of the six nations' citizens who entered China last month did so for business, pleasure, or sightseeing and that over 55% of those citizens entered China via visa-free routes.
The government has said that all Chinese border checkpoints have been instructed to adequately staff and establish communication channels in order to facilitate the visa-free policy's seamless implementation and to enhance exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreigners.
As part of its attempts to strengthen ties, China also made it easier for United States travelers to apply for visas starting Monday, as reported by Reuters.
At a meeting in San Francisco in November 2023, Chinese Leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden reached an agreement to enhance visa processing, boost flights, and facilitate more travel and personal contacts between the two nations.
