China Logs 15.46 Million Cross-Border Trips During National Day Golden Week

China’s National Immigration Administration (NIA) has confirmed that a total of 15.46 million inbound and outbound trips were processed nationwide between 1 and 7 October 2026, the first Golden Week since the full resumption of post-pandemic travel. The NIA’s bulletin, carried by state news agency Xinhua, shows that average daily traffic reached 2.21 million crossings, 6.7 percent higher than in 2025. Mainland residents accounted for 4.44 million outbound trips, with long-haul destinations such as New Zealand and Iceland emerging as surprise favourites, according to booking data from Ctrip and Mafengwo. Meanwhile, 682 000 foreign nationals entered China, 505 000 of whom used one of the country’s expanding visa-free channels. Golden Week is traditionally a stress-test for Chinese border infrastructure. Authorities deployed additional staffing and opened temporary booths at Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong and Shenzhen Bao’an airports, while land checkpoints at Shenzhen Bay and Zhuhai Gongbei introduced dynamic lane-switching to clear queues in under 20 minutes. The smooth operations are viewed domestically as a validation of the central government’s strategy of liberalising short-stay entry: since September, China grants unilateral 30-day visa-free access to citizens of 50 countries and 240-hour transit exemptions to 57. For corporates, the numbers suggest a rebound in face-to-face business. Multinationals with regional hubs in Shanghai and Shenzhen report that executive travel approvals are back to 90 percent of 2019 levels. Hospitality analysts expect the winter trade-fair season—CIIE in Shanghai and the Canton Fair in Guangzhou—to benefit from the momentum, while aviation planners are already filing capacity increases for the northern-winter schedule. Travel-management companies urge firms to refresh mobility policies: although visa-free entry is widening, employees must still carry printed hotel confirmations and return tickets; overstays incur daily fines of RMB 500. They also recommend factoring in renewed demand when booking mainland-Hong Kong air and high-speed-rail segments during future peak periods.