BEIJING: China’s border authorities handled over 424 million entries and exits by individuals in 2023, a significant increase of 266.5 percent year-on-year, the National Immigration Administration announced on Tuesday.
Of the 424 million entries and exits, 206 million crossings were made by mainland residents, an increase of 218.7 percent year-on-year, and 183 million were made by residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up 292.8 percent from 2022.
In addition, nearly 35.48 million crossings were made by foreign nationals, a year-on-year increase of 693.1 percent. The total volume of crossings in 2023 accounted for about 63.3 percent of that in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.
Zhang Ning, a spokeswoman for the immigration administration, said that China has continued to optimize immigration policies and improve immigration services, facilitating exchanges between people from China and other countries.
In 2023, comprehensive measures were taken to fully restore the process of accepting and approving entry and exit documents of Chinese citizens, which had been affected during the pandemic. Also restored were the processes of granting port passenger clearance, regional visa exemption and port visas or visa on arrival for foreigners, and the nationwide service of granting entry permits to mainland residents for travel to Hong Kong and Macao, she said. Together with other departments, the NIA made multiple adjustments to the entry policies for foreigners, optimizing regional visa exemptions, transit visa exemptions and port visa policies. Visa fees were reduced, and Norway was added to the list of transit visa exemption countries, she said. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
