New data released today show that Xinjiang’s ports processed 102.9 million cross-border passengers in Q1 2026, up 25 percent on last year. Crucially, 18.1 million of those entries—over 70 percent of all foreign arrivals—were made under visa-free provisions, representing a 34.9 percent year-on-year surge. Officials attribute the boom to two factors: Beijing’s decision to extend 30-day visa-free access to Canadians and Britons from February, and the opening of new direct flights linking Urumqi with Astana, Islamabad and Milan. Local travel agents report that business-delegation itineraries now routinely include factory visits in the Urumqi Economic & Technological Zone followed by leisure stops in Turpan or Kashgar. To keep pace, border police have installed additional e-gate channels at Urumqi Diwopu and revamped the land checkpoints at Khorgos with facial-recognition kiosks calibrated for winter clothing and headgear. Processing time for coach tours has dropped from 20 to 8 minutes per group, according to pilot-run statistics shared by the NIA’s information-technology bureau. For companies, the takeaway is that China’s northwest is swinging open for both energy and consumer-goods investment scouting trips. Mobility managers should note, however, that travellers who intend to head deeper into the frontier-control belt still need the new electronic border permit launched nationwide today.
Source: Guangming Daily / Tianshan Net
