2025 border crossings hit record high Nearly 700 million entries and exits fueled by expanded visa-free policies

A foreign tourist poses with a performer wearing a Peking Opera costume, while visiting the bustling Qianmen commercial area in Beijing on Sunday. CHEN QIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY

China's national immigration authorities significantly enhanced their service efficiency in 2025, processing a record 697 million border crossings, a 14.2 percent increase from the previous year.

According to data announced by the National Immigration Administration on Wednesday, foreign nationals accounted for more than 82 million crossings, a year-on-year rise of 26 percent. Notably, over 30 million foreign nationals entered China visa-free, almost 50 percent more than last year, making up 73 percent of all foreign entries.

Residents from the Chinese mainland made 335 million crossings, up 15 percent, while those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan made nearly 280 million crossings, up 10 percent compared with 2024.

Lyu Ning, the administration's spokeswoman, noted that the immigration sector has advanced policy reform and innovation, implementing targeted measures to underpin high-quality development and inject new impetus into the national economy.

To facilitate exchanges, authorities expanded the pilot program for online travel document applications for mainland residents to 50 cities, with 457,000 successful online applications recorded.

Additionally, Indonesia was added to the list of countries eligible for the 240-hour visa-free transit policy, and five more ports in Guangdong province were designated for the policy, bringing the national total to 65.

Visa-free entry for tourist groups from Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries to Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province was also launched. In coordination with relevant departments, the administration increased the count of China's unilateral visa-free countries to 48 and mutual visa exemption countries to 29, bringing the total number of countries granting unilateral visa-free access to China to 28.

Lyu noted that while ensuring efficient cross-border travel, these initiatives have fueled the boom in "Travel in China" and "Shop in China" campaigns, elevating China's image as an open, inclusive and dynamic country.

Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that the expanded visa-free policies and optimized tax refund measures have further boosted these campaigns, with sales of tax-refundable goods nearly doubling.

Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, pointed out that China's tourism industry has become more open and inclusive over the past year and over the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, making important contributions to the prosperity of the global tourism sector.

China's high-level opening-up policies, covering visas, immigration, port access, tax refunds and payment facilitation, have significantly improved entry convenience for international travelers.

He described 2025 as a landmark year for China's institutional opening-up in tourism. China is now a global leader in tourism exchanges with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia, West Asia, Africa, and Latin America, while tourism exchanges with Europe have almost returned to the 2019 levels, he said.

Looking ahead to 2026 and the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, Dai emphasized that China is poised to play a bigger role in global tourism development.

The National Immigration Administration said it will continue to expand and deepen high-level opening-up to the outside world, optimize immigration policies and respond to public demands, with a view to boosting economic and social development through continuous reform and innovation.