Foreign traffic at Guangzhou airport up 32% in 2026

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangdong province has recorded more than 5 million inbound and outbound foreign national visits this year as of Monday, showing a year-on-year increase of 32 percent.

The figure represents a record growth rate for the same period, according to a statement released by the Baiyun Immigration Inspection Station on Tuesday.

Multiple favorable factors, including the rising global outreach of Chinese film and television productions, the viral popularity of "Chinamaxxing", and the expansion of the 240-hour visa-free transit policy covering 57 countries, have driven the trend.

According to data from the station, since the beginning of the year, the airport has processed approximately 2.48 million inbound visits by foreign nationals, among whom 1.35 million visits entered under various visa-exemption policies, accounting for over 54.7 percent of the total.

The trend is also attributable to China's economic foreign policy. Cumulative inbound and outbound flows of foreign nationals from APEC member economies exceeded 3.16 million passenger visits, a year-on-year rise of 36.4 percent. Foreign nationals from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled more than 3.85 million passenger visits, up 37.7 percent year‑on-year.

Amid surging foreign national passenger volumes, the number of cross-border trips taken by Chinese citizens also increased, the statement said. In 2026, the airport has cleared more than 7.67 million inbound-outbound Chinese citizen visits as of Monday, up 11.1 percent year-on-year, it said.

During the summer travel peak, mainland residents mainly travel across the border for study tours or family getaways and visits.

As of Aug 24, the total number of inbound and outbound passenger flows at the airport has exceeded 13 million visits for the year, representing an 18.5 percent year-on-year increase, said the statement.