Stewardesses perform Laos dance for passengers aboard train No. D86 from Kunming, capital city of southwest China's Yunnan Province, to the Laos capital Vientiane, July 18, 2025.  (Photo by Yang Zixuan/Xinhua)

Between January and August of this year, people-to-people exchanges between the Chinese mainland and the ASEAN countries increased by 11.2 percent year-on-year to exceed 25.24 million, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday, citing data from National Immigration Administration.

Among them, 14.51 million Chinese mainland residents traveled to ASEAN countries, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percent, with outbound travels primarily for tourism and family visits. 

Meanwhile, 10.74 million ASEAN residents entered the Chinese mainland, surging by 27.5 percent year-on-year - including 9.05 million visa-free entries - primarily for tourism and business activities, according to Xinhua.

Since China-Malaysia mutual visa exemptions kicked off on July 17, around 180,000 Malaysians have entered China, up by13.2 percent year-on-year.

In the coming months, the National Immigration Administration said that it will proactively introduce policies to facilitate cross-border exchanges of personnel between China and ASEAN, enhance regional economic and trade cooperation, and continuously inject vitality and momentum into regional economic and social development.

Over the past three decades, China and ASEAN have maintained a stable and growing dialogue partnership. Their cooperation has become increasingly resilient, dynamic and productive, making it one of the most vibrant and successful collaborative models in both the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

Meanwhile, commerce between China and ASEAN has seen robust growth in the first eight months of the year, boosted by deepened cooperation in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on Tuesday.

China and ASEAN have been each other's largest trading partners for five consecutive years so far, with ASEAN maintaining its position as China's largest trading partner in agricultural products for eight consecutive years, GAC said.

And, the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo is scheduled to take place from Wednesday to Sunday in Nanning city, the capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Global Times