Fresh data from China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism confirm that the country’s 1-5 May “Golden Week” holiday generated a powerful rebound in cross-border mobility. Foreign nationals made 1.26 million trips into or out of the mainland during the five-day period, a 12.5 percent increase on 2025. The standout figure: 436,000 of those inbound travellers entered under China’s expanding 30-day visa-free schemes—up 14.7 percent year-on-year. The surge highlights the impact of Beijing’s rapid roll-out of unilateral visa-waiver deals with 47 countries, most recently adding Sweden and extending the programme through 2026.
![China’s May Day Break Sees 1.26 Million Foreign Entries; Visa-Free Arrivals Jump 14.7 %]()
Companies trying to keep up with these swiftly changing entry options can turn to VisaHQ’s China specialists (https://www.visahq.com/china/). The service tracks every new exemption, provincial notice and document requirement in real time and can arrange business or tourist visas, invitation letters and legalisations through a single online dashboard—saving travellers and mobility teams hours of administrative back-and-forth.
For multinationals, easier entry is translating into fuller trade-fair halls, more in-person sales calls and quicker deployment of technical teams long constrained by paperwork bottlenecks. Domestic mobility also hit new highs. The ministry logged 325 million internal trips and 185.5 billion yuan (US$27 billion) in tourism spending—metrics closely watched by airlines, hotels and duty-free operators calibrating post-pandemic recovery strategies. Night-time cultural consumption clusters drew 80 million visits, signalling opportunities for events and MICE organisers. Local immigration checkpoints reported smooth processing despite volumes. Authorities credit digital pre-arrival declarations and e-passport gates now installed at 54 air, sea and land ports. Mobility planners should encourage travellers to use the “China Immigration” app to pre-populate arrival cards, which can shave several minutes off clearance times. Looking ahead, officials indicated that further facilitation is on the table, including widening the 144-hour transit-without-visa programme and piloting online hotel registration in additional provinces. Employers should watch provincial notices, as compliance rules for address registration and extended-stay conversions still vary by location.
Companies trying to keep up with these swiftly changing entry options can turn to VisaHQ’s China specialists (https://www.visahq.com/china/). The service tracks every new exemption, provincial notice and document requirement in real time and can arrange business or tourist visas, invitation letters and legalisations through a single online dashboard—saving travellers and mobility teams hours of administrative back-and-forth.
For multinationals, easier entry is translating into fuller trade-fair halls, more in-person sales calls and quicker deployment of technical teams long constrained by paperwork bottlenecks. Domestic mobility also hit new highs. The ministry logged 325 million internal trips and 185.5 billion yuan (US$27 billion) in tourism spending—metrics closely watched by airlines, hotels and duty-free operators calibrating post-pandemic recovery strategies. Night-time cultural consumption clusters drew 80 million visits, signalling opportunities for events and MICE organisers. Local immigration checkpoints reported smooth processing despite volumes. Authorities credit digital pre-arrival declarations and e-passport gates now installed at 54 air, sea and land ports. Mobility planners should encourage travellers to use the “China Immigration” app to pre-populate arrival cards, which can shave several minutes off clearance times. Looking ahead, officials indicated that further facilitation is on the table, including widening the 144-hour transit-without-visa programme and piloting online hotel registration in additional provinces. Employers should watch provincial notices, as compliance rules for address registration and extended-stay conversions still vary by location.
