According to the statistics of the National Immigration Administration on January 4, Chinese border inspection authorities inspected 670 million arrival and departure passengers in the year of 2019, an increase of 3.8 percent year on year. Also, the authorities inspected 36.235 million units of transport vehicles (aircrafts, trains and vessels), an increase of 3.4 percent year on year.

Mainland residents made 350 million arrivals and departures, while Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents made 160 million, 53.587 million, and 12.278 million, respectively. Foreigners made 97.675 million arrivals and departures in 2019.

In response to the continuous increase of both passenger and transportation arrivals and departures, the National Immigration Administration has made proactive efforts to act in accordance with national strategies, by rolling out new measures to facilitate customs clearance and innovating inspection methods, effectively improving the border inspection efficiency and service quality, and fully promoting the opening-up to higher levels.

In 2019, 89 inspection lanes dedicated to Belt and Road Initiative passenger and vehicles were arranged at 18 ports in Beijing, Shanghai and other places, facilitating the quick customs clearance for 290,000 arrivals and departures. Also, the 30-day visa-free policy for tourists to Hainan benefited 463,000 foreigners, accounting for 73.7% of foreigners arriving in the province. What's more, with the 144-hour visa-free transit policy implemented in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, Guangdong Province and so on, the border inspection authorities have provided visa-free convenience to more than 1.8 million transiting foreigners.

With more steps taken to advance "Internet plus" inspection services, more than 60,000 permits were processed online for boarding or deboarding alien vessels or making fast to alien vessels, benefiting over 1,900 enterprises from home and abroad. This helped further facilitate cross-border trade and improve port business environment.

Notice: This English version is only for reference. To learn more, please refer to the authoritative Chinese version.