Immigration check-points in China’s southern island province of Hainan processed 54,000 travellers between 1 and 7 October, up 13.4 percent on last year’s National Day week, according to the Haikou General Station of Immigration Inspection. It is the first major holiday since the Hainan Free Trade Port switched to island-wide independent customs operations in April. Haikou Meilan International Airport handled 30,000 passengers (+3.4 percent), while Sanya Phoenix International Airport saw 22,000 passengers, a steep 28.7 percent increase that officials attribute to new charter services from Kazakhstan and Indonesia. Arrivals data show a sharp rise in visitors from Russia, Belarus and Southeast Asia, mirroring the island’s expanded 30-day visa-free list that now covers 88 nationalities. To cope with traffic peaks, immigration authorities opened extra counters, pushed out real-time wait-time alerts via social media and coordinated with airlines to stagger flight schedules. No major delays were reported. For multinational companies operating in Hainan’s duty-free retail and advanced manufacturing clusters, the figures are an encouraging sign that the port’s liberalised travel and customs regime is starting to translate into tangible footfall. Corporate mobility teams should note, however, that visa-free entry to Hainan does not grant onward travel to mainland China; travellers continuing to other provinces must still obtain the appropriate visa or exit and re-enter on a different status.
Source: Ecns.cn
