China Hits Record 697M Border Crossings in 2025 — Visa-Free Travel Booms

In 2025, China saw a record high in border crossings, reflecting deeper international connectivity and the fruits of expanded opening-up policies. 

According to the National Immigration Administration, the total number of border crossings in 2025 reached 697 million, up 14.2 percent year-on-year, marking a historic high and demonstrating significant improvements in border service efficiency. 

Foreign nationals accounted for more than 82 million crossings, a 26 percent year-on-year increase; notably, over 30 million foreign visitors entered China visa-free — nearly 50 percent more than last year — representing 73 percent of all foreign entries. 

Mainland residents made 335 million crossings, up 15 percent, while residents from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan made nearly 280 million crossings, up 10 percent compared with 2024, signaling continued strong mobility and exchanges. 

Lyu Ning, spokesperson for the immigration authority, noted that reforms and innovations in immigration policy and services have provided strong support for high-quality development and injected fresh momentum into the national economy. 

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

Additionally, Indonesia was added to the list of countries eligible for China’s 240-hour visa-free transit policy, and five more ports in Guangdong were designated for the policy, bringing the total to 65. At the same time, pilot visa-free entry for ASEAN tourist groups visiting Xishuangbanna in Yunnan was launched. 

China has increased the number of unilateral visa-free countries to 48 and mutual visa-exemption countries to 29, further enhancing international travel convenience. 

These measures have not only fueled booming “Travel in China” and “Shop in China” campaigns, but also elevated China’s image as an open, inclusive, and dynamic country. Data from the Ministry of Commerce show that expanded visa-free policies and optimized tax refund measures have almost doubled sales of tax-refundable goods. 

Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, pointed out that 2025 marked a year of increased openness and inclusiveness for China’s tourism industry, making significant contributions to global tourism prosperity during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. 

Looking ahead to 2026 and the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will continue to play a larger role in global tourism development, deepen high-level opening-up, optimize immigration policies, respond to public needs, and promote economic and social development through continuous reform and innovation.