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E-mail China.org.cn, January 2, 2025
Beijing border ports handled a total of 18.27 million passenger trips and over 110,000 flights in 2024, representing year-on-year increases of 90% and 76%, respectively, according to the Beijing General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection.
Of this total, 4.84 million trips were made by foreign visitors, a remarkable 125% increase compared to the previous year.
A key factor driving this growth has been China's expansion of its visa-free program. Since Dec. 2023, the country has introduced visa-free policies for citizens of several countries, further boosting inbound tourism. Additionally, the National Immigration Administration has rolled out over 100 measures to facilitate the entry of foreign nationals, including optimizing visa-free, transit visa and port visa policies.
In 2024, Beijing's entry and exit ports processed 920,000 visa-free arrivals and issued 144-hour and 240-hour temporary entry permits to 64,000 eligible foreign visitors, representing increases of 4.9 times and 2.2 times year-on-year, respectively. Beijing Capital International Airport accounted for approximately 1.91 million foreign arrivals and 710,000 visa-free arrivals, while Beijing Daxing International Airport welcomed around 560,000 foreign visitors, including 210,000 visa-free arrivals.
The introduction of the 240-hour transit visa has significantly boosted inbound tourism. Since Dec. 17, 2024, when China expanded its transit visa policy, Beijing has seen a surge in foreign visitors. Between Dec. 20-31, the city's entry and exit ports handled 108,000 foreign arrivals, a 43% increase month-on-month and 1.7 times the number in the same period of the previous year.
To provide a seamless travel experience for foreign visitors, the Beijing General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection has implemented a series of measures. These include promoting the use of electronic boarding passes, introducing self-service kiosks for foreign visitors to fill out arrival cards, establishing multilingual service teams to provide on-site assistance, and optimizing temporary entry permit issuance procedures.
These efforts have not only facilitated the entry of foreign visitors but also enhanced their overall travel experience in Beijing.
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