Lü Ning, a spokesperson for the National Immigration Administration (NIA), hosts a press conference on January 28, 2026, to present major statistics and achievements in China's immigration administration work in 2025. Photo: Courtesy of the NIA

China's national immigration authorities processed 697 million cross-border trips in 2025, up 14.2 percent year-on-year, a record high, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Wednesday.

Of the total, the Chinese mainland residents accounted for 335 million trips, up 15.1 percent, while residents from Hong Kong, Macao, and the Taiwan region made 279 million trips, up 10.1 percent, the NIA said.

China recorded 82.035 million cross-border trips by foreign nationals, a 26.4 percent increase year-on-year. Of these, 30.08 million entered China visa-free, accounting for 73.1 percent of all foreign arrivals, up 49.5 percent year-on-year, according to the NIA.

In 2025, China's national immigration authorities continued to enhance the efficiency of immigration management services. Throughout the year, 20.897 million ordinary passports were issued. Among them, 2.02 million visas for foreign nationals were issued, according to the NIA.

To promote people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries, China expanded the pilot program allowing the mainland residents to apply for renewal and reissuance of exit-entry documents entirely online, increasing the number of participating cities to 50. Indonesia was added to the 240-hour transit visa-free program, with five ports in South China's Guangdong Province included, bringing the total number of eligible ports to 65, per the NIA.

Moreover, a visa-free entry policy for ASEAN tour groups visiting Xishuangbanna, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, was implemented. 

In coordination with relevant authorities, China expanded the number of countries eligible for unilateral visa-free entry to 48, increased mutual visa-exemption agreements to 29 countries, and advanced efforts to raise the number of countries granted unilateral visa-free entry to China to 28, according to the NIA.