Speaking at a briefing covered by regional outlet Our Today, National Immigration Administration deputy chief Liu Haitao revealed that 17.25 million foreigners entered China in the first seven months of 2025, a 129.9 percent jump over the same period last year. Cross-border movements overall totalled 341 million, up 62 percent.
Liu attributed the surge to iterative visa-free measures and the rapid recovery of international air routes. He highlighted that 846,000 ‘port visas’—on-arrival visas for urgent business or humanitarian needs—were issued through July, an increase of 183 percent, showing that border officers are clearing ad-hoc trips more efficiently.
![Foreign Arrivals to China Up 130 % Year-on-Year, NIA Tells Press on 7 November]()
The NIA forecasts that foreign visitor spending will top RMB 100 billion (USD 14 billion) in 2025, with average daily expenditure at nearly RMB 3,500. Corporate travel managers can therefore expect tighter hotel and flight inventory in major hubs such as Shanghai and Shenzhen during trade-show months.
Liu signalled that further digitisation is in the pipeline, including an online foreigners’ arrival-card system (one of the 10 measures announced earlier in the week) and expanded e-gate trials for passport holders from ASEAN countries. Both initiatives could trim clearance times for business travellers in 2026.
The figures offer hard evidence that China’s mobility environment has normalised, giving multinationals quantitative support when justifying the reinstatement of face-to-face meetings and rotational postings.
Liu attributed the surge to iterative visa-free measures and the rapid recovery of international air routes. He highlighted that 846,000 ‘port visas’—on-arrival visas for urgent business or humanitarian needs—were issued through July, an increase of 183 percent, showing that border officers are clearing ad-hoc trips more efficiently.
The NIA forecasts that foreign visitor spending will top RMB 100 billion (USD 14 billion) in 2025, with average daily expenditure at nearly RMB 3,500. Corporate travel managers can therefore expect tighter hotel and flight inventory in major hubs such as Shanghai and Shenzhen during trade-show months.
Liu signalled that further digitisation is in the pipeline, including an online foreigners’ arrival-card system (one of the 10 measures announced earlier in the week) and expanded e-gate trials for passport holders from ASEAN countries. Both initiatives could trim clearance times for business travellers in 2026.
The figures offer hard evidence that China’s mobility environment has normalised, giving multinationals quantitative support when justifying the reinstatement of face-to-face meetings and rotational postings.
