China’s cross-border travel soars 12.9% during 2026 Dragon Boat Festival holiday
China saw around 6.67 million cross-border trips during the recent three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, an increase of 12.9 percent year on year, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) said on Monday, Xinhua reported.
During this holiday period, which concluded on Sunday, cross-border trips by foreign visitors surged 23.3 percent from the 2025 figure to reach 777,000, according to the NIA.
Among foreign travelers entering China, 266,000 were admitted under the country's visa-free policy, marking a 15.2-percent increase from the previous year.
The growing influx of foreign travelers is encouraged by the country's favorable visa policies. By February this year, China had expanded its unilateral visa-free access to citizens of 50 countries.
During the holiday rush, cross-border travel rose by 5.5 percent among mainland residents, while trips by residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan jumped by 18.4 percent, data from the NIA showed.
This year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday coincided with the end of China's national college entrance exam, the Gaokao, and was further boosted by the start of the FIFA World Cup and holiday events such as the Guangzhou international dragon boat invitational. This combination of factors led to the rise in cross-border travel, experts noted.
