China’s immigration authorities reported the country’s half-year border-crossing data on July 5, posting a 70.9% year-on-year increase from January to June. The data includes 137 million mainland residents, 121 million residents from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and 29.22 million foreigners.
The half-year total of 287 million border crossings was around 83.4% of the 2019 level. The 29.22 million cross-border visits made by foreigners in the first half of 2024 represented a 61.3% recovery rate compared to pre-pandemic figures.
During the first six months of this year, a total of 15.419 million vehicles of transport were inspected, an increase of 56.9% over the previous year. This total included 405,000 aircraft, 211,000 ships, 50,000 trains, and 14.753 million automobiles.
Some 12.34 million ordinary passports were issued, up 23.2% year-on-year. A total of 46.152 million visas were issued for entry and exit documents between Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, up 7.8% year-on-year. Meanwhile, 1.431 million travel permits were issued for Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan residents to travel to and from the mainland, basically the same as last year. Furthermore, 686,000 port visas were issued, up 267.9% year-on-year, and 388,000 stay and residence permits were issued to foreigners in China, up 2.4% year-on-year.
