Mainland travel permits for Hong Kong and Macau on the rise

887,000 mainland travel permits for Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan residents were issued, showing a year-on-year increase of 358.5%, which also marked an increase of 151.8% from the same period.

The number of documents issued for mainland residents traveling to and from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan jumped by 2,071.2% year on year to 25.45 million and it rose by 113.3% from the same period in 2019, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) said Tuesday at a press conference in Beijing.

Additionally, 887,000 mainland travel permits for Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan residents were issued, showing a year-on-year increase of 358.5%, which also marked an increase of 151.8% from the same period in 2019.

The NIA data showed that 608,000 visas were issued in the third quarter of the year to foreign nationals, indicating a yearly surge of 268.5%, returning to the same level as in 2019.

Immigration departments across China inspected 123 million border entries and exits in the third quarter of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 454.4%, According to NIA data, 61.69 million of the total crossings were made by mainland residents, while 50.18 million crossings were made by residents from Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions and Taiwan.

A total of 4.66 million ordinary passports were issued from July to September, representing an increase of 1,356.3% from last year, the administration said.

According to the NIA, over 13,000 criminal cases related to national border control were investigated, with more than 23,000 suspects arrested and 817 criminal gangs dismantled.

In accordance with the law, cases involving 20,400 foreign nationals who engaged in illegal entry, residence and employment were prosecuted, with 7,102 of them being deported, the NIA said.  MDT/Xinhua