China’s National Immigration Administration (NIA) has put the country’s 312 land, sea and air border checkpoints on high alert ahead of the back-to-back Mid-Autumn Festival (25-27 September) and National Day “Golden Week” (1-7 October). In an operational circular issued on 22 September, the agency projects daily traveller volumes to hit 2.25 million during Mid-Autumn and 2.15 million during National Day, with a single-day peak likely to exceed 2.4 million crossings. International airports in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen and other hubs have been told to roster extra officers and keep queueing times for Chinese and foreign passengers below 30 minutes. The NIA’s traffic modelling pinpoints 25 September, 27 September, 1 October and 4 October as the four crunch days. Airports are not the only choke-points. Land ports serving Hong Kong and Macao – such as Shenzhen Luohu, Shenzhen Bay, Futian and Zhuhai Gongbei – are forecast to see daily flows of 200,000-380,000 passengers. The agency has therefore coordinated with customs, police and local transport bureaux to create rapid-response teams who can be deployed when waiting areas reach capacity. For travel-intensive industries – airlines, TMCs, tour operators and corporate mobility teams – the advisory is a practical heads-up. Companies rotating staff into China during the holiday window should budget extra connection time and remind travellers to check that 10-year visas, multiple-entry permits and arrival QR codes remain valid. Logistics managers moving time-critical goods via driver-accompanied trucks should also monitor port-authority social-media feeds for temporary lane closures. The NIA is again publicising its 12367 hotline, available in eight languages, for travellers who lose passports, overstay or face medical emergencies at the border. The agency also reiterates its standing advice for Chinese nationals to avoid travel to countries designated “high risk” in the latest outbound safety bulletin. Looking beyond the holidays, the data-driven staffing model tested this week is expected to become standard practice for all future peak periods – offering a template for faster, more predictable border clearance as China seeks to rebuild inbound and outbound travel to pre-pandemic levels.
