It took the arrivals and departures to the same level recorded in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic swept across China.
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Southeast Asian aviation industry is booming amid return of tourism
Southeast Asian aviation industry is booming amid return of tourism
Domestic travel also bounced back over the New Year holiday, with 135 million trips taken nationwide, according to tourism ministry data.
That was a jump of 155.3 per cent from the same time last year and a rise of nearly 10 per cent from the pre-Covid level in 2019. Tourism revenue tripled from the same time in 2022 and was up 5.6 per cent from the New Year holiday in 2019.
The immigration administration said there were 2.51 million arrivals into mainland China and 2.67 million departures during the holiday.
In December, some 214,000 travellers arrived from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia – up 28.5 per cent from the previous month, the administration said on Monday.
More than 55 per cent of the travellers from the six countries entered China via visa-free channels last month, and over 77 per cent of those arrivals were for sightseeing, leisure and business, according to immigration data.
The administration said border checkpoints across China had been told to prepare for the new arrangement with enough staff and channels to “ensure the smooth implementation of the visa-free policy” and “further promote exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreigners”.
In Monday’s statement, the immigration administration said it was “firmly committed to implementing the directives and requirements set at the central economic work conference [in Beijing last month], balancing high-level openness, high-quality development, and high-level security”.
“[The administration] will work with relevant departments to further facilitate foreigners to come to China for business, study, tourism, work or residence, and to make every effort to serve a high level of openness and high-quality development,” it said.
