China braces for record 2.1 million daily border crossings over 2026 New Year break
Hong Kong clocks nearly six million cross-boundary trips over Christmas long-weekend
PLA live-fire drills around Taiwan to disrupt more than 100,000 airline passengers
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Macau greets 1.14 million visitors during SAR anniversary-cum-Christmas week; Hengqin port tops 30 million annual crossings
Macau recorded 1.14 million visitor arrivals and 6.25 million total crossings from 20-28 December, while neighbouring Hengqin port set an all-time high of 30 million passengers for the year. Mainland tourists still dominate but broader market diversification is evident, signalling strong demand for hospitality, meetings and cross-border labour flows into 2026.
Spring Airlines and Juneyao order 55 Airbus A320-family jets, signalling fresh capacity for Chinese outbound market
Spring Airlines will buy 30 A320neos and Juneyao Airlines 25 A320-family jets for up to US $8.2 billion, pending regulatory approval. The deliveries from 2028-2032 will expand capacity on regional Asian routes crucial for business travellers and underscore China’s rebounding demand for outbound connectivity.
Chinese Visa Application Service Centres announce 1 January closure; passport pick-ups to be delayed
All Chinese Visa Application Service Centres will close on 1 January for the New Year holiday, delaying passport pick-ups by at least one day. Companies with urgent deployments should adjust timelines or upgrade to rush processing to avoid knock-on delays.
China rolls out 10 new exit-entry innovations to make living and doing business easier for foreigners
A year-end policy package from China’s National Immigration Administration introduces ten nationwide exit-entry facilitation measures, including a bigger 240-hour visa-free-transit network, digital arrival cards and automatic integration of foreign work-permit data with local social-security systems. The reforms aim to cut paperwork for tourists and reduce HR friction for multinationals relocating staff into and across China.
Record 1.25 million crossings strain Hong Kong-Mainland border on Christmas Day
Hong Kong recorded 1.25 million border crossings on 25 December, the highest daily total since 2024. The spike highlights the rebound of cross-border commerce and tourism and signals even heavier traffic for the upcoming Lunar New Year, prompting businesses to review staffing and travel-risk plans.
China extends fingerprint-free visa processing at eight high-volume consulates
Fingerprint collection for short-stay Chinese visas will remain suspended at eight high-volume consulates—including London, Sydney and Singapore—until end-2026. The move trims application times and removes an extra trip for business travellers, but longer-stay and work visas are excluded.
Chinese embassy in India launches fully digital visa portal, cutting paperwork for travellers
The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi has moved visa applications fully online, allowing Indian travellers to complete forms and payments electronically and reducing embassy visits. The upgrade should speed business travel between the two countries and fits Beijing’s broader push toward paperless consular services.
China brokers Thailand-Cambodia border truce ahead of Yunnan foreign-ministers’ meeting
China helped secure a Thailand-Cambodia cease-fire on 28 December and will host both foreign ministers in Yunnan to discuss reopening closed border crossings. A sustained truce would restore critical overland trade and travel routes linking Southeast Asia to China’s southwest.