May Day break: Visa-free entries to China surge 14.7% to over 436,000

China recorded over 436,000 visa-free entries by international travelers during the five-day May Day holiday that ended on Tuesday, marking a 14.7% increase compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Wednesday.

The figure underscores the growing appeal of China's expanded visa-free travel programs. Currently, China has implemented unilateral visa-free policies for 50 countries and offers 240-hour transit visa-free arrangements for 55 countries.

Overall foreign arrivals during the five-day holiday reached 1.255 million, up 12.5% year on year, according to the NIA.

China's border inspection agencies facilitated a total of 11.279 million cross-border trips by Chinese and foreign travelers during the holiday, according to the NIA.

The daily average stood at 2.256 million cross-border trips, representing a 3.5% increase compared to the same holiday period last year. The single highest volume of border crossings occurred on May 2, with 2.529 million trips processed.

A total of 531,000 inspections of aircraft, vessels, trains, and motor vehicles carrying cross-border passengers were registered, up 16.6% from the 2025 holiday period.