Thailand's Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul (right) hands garlands to Chinese tourists on their arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn province, Thailand on January 9, 2023. Thailand is looking forward to hosting large numbers of visitors from China again after it downgraded its COVID-19 prevention and control measures and eased travel restrictions. Photo: VCG

The number of people leaving and entering the Chinese mainland reached 676,000 on Monday, up by 32.8 percent from the previous day and the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to data released by the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Tuesday.

Among the travelers, those who traveled across borders between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao reached 568,000 on Monday, accounting for 84 percent of total arrivals and departures on that day and an increase of 39.2 percent over the previous day.

The full resumption of cross-border travel between the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is expected to aid the city's full-scale recovery.

As China has downgraded its management of COVID-19 and resumed outbound tourism for Chinese citizens since January 8, more and more Chinese tourists have turned their eyes to destinations outside the Chinese mainland.

In this year's Spring Festival holidays, the first public holiday after the COVID management adjustment, residents in the mainland made 741,000 outbound trips, up by 93.7 percent from 2022, according to the NIA.

The Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions were the top destinations for residents from the mainland, with 498,000 trips made during the Spring Festival, accounting for 81.2 percent of the total outbound trips.

Data from the NIA shows that the number of residents from the mainland traveling across the border has recovered to 36.6 percent of the pre-pandemic level.

Global Times