Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – According to the Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection on the 4th, since the beginning of this year, Shanghai immigration authorities have inspected over 36.35 million inbound and outbound passengers, exceeding the total number for 2024, and are expected to surpass 40 million for the entire year.
With China successively introducing or restoring various visa-free policies, especially the National Immigration Administration's comprehensive relaxation and optimization of the visa-free transit policy for foreigners, international tourists have flocked to China this year, making "China tourism" by foreign travelers a booming trend.
As of now, Shanghai immigration authorities have inspected 4.52 million foreign passengers entering Shanghai through its ports. Among them, 4.16 million foreign passengers were inspected at Pudong International Airport, ranking first among all airport ports in China.
Benefiting from the visa-free and 240-hour visa-free transit policies, the number of foreign passengers entering visa-free reached 2.45 million, a year-on-year increase of 214%, accounting for 54% of the total number of foreign passengers entering the country. The number of foreign tourists entering China using the 240-hour visa-free transit policy reached 61,000, an increase of nearly 70% year-on-year. The top countries of origin for foreign tourists were South Korea, Japan, the United States, Thailand, and Russia. In terms of purpose, most were traveling for tourism, business, visiting relatives, employment, or study. Tourists accounted for 56.4% of all foreign tourists entering China.
While the inbound tourism market is booming, mainland residents' enthusiasm for cross-border travel remains high. Since the beginning of this year, Shanghai border inspection authorities have inspected nearly 21.37 million mainland residents entering and exiting China, averaging about 70,000 per day, an increase of about 12.5% year-on-year. The most popular destinations were Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore.
Furthermore, with the continued recovery of the cruise market, cruise travel at Shanghai ports is gaining popularity. So far this year, Shanghai border inspection authorities have inspected 1.725 million passengers entering and exiting Shanghai's cruise ports, an increase of 39.5% year-on-year. Most tourists are families with children and senior citizens. In addition, the continued expansion of China's visa-free policy, coupled with a series of customs clearance facilitation measures introduced by border inspection authorities, has attracted more and more international travelers to choose the "airplane + cruise ship" combination for their trip to China. So far this year, the number of foreign passengers entering and leaving the port via cruise has reached 113,000.
To ensure safe and smooth customs clearance, the Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection adheres closely to its functional positioning, strictly implements a series of customs clearance facilitation measures from the National Immigration Administration, continuously promotes the optimization and upgrading of its service model, constantly simplifies entry and exit inspection procedures, and strives to improve the port clearance environment. (End)
