China reports booming cross-border travels in 2023

BEIJING -- The number of Chinese people traveling overseas saw a surge in 2023 while the country also received a soaring number of foreign visitors, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) announced Thursday.

Around 424 million trips were made in and out of border ports in the Chinese mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macao in 2023, up 266.5 percent year-on-year, according to an NIA press release.

Among them, 206 million trips were made by mainland residents and 183 million by residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up 218.7 percent and 292.8 percent year-on-year, respectively, the NIA said.

The number of trips made by foreigners in and out of these border ports soared by 693.1 percent year-on-year to 35.48 million.

Last year, a total of 18.43 million Chinese passports were issued, up 1,625.4 percent year-on-year, according to the NIA.

The number of travel passes and travel permits for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan also soared by 1,318 percent year-on-year to 86.09 million, while the number of visas issued to foreigners increased by 158.3 percent to 1.7 million, the NIA said.