Tourists pose for photos at a night fair in Jinghong City of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Feb. 12, 2023. The night fair here has attracted a good many tourists, some of whom enjoyed a travel photo service in which photo studios provided traditional costumes and makeup to tourists.(Photo: Xinhua)

Since China downgraded its COVID-19 management and optimized immigration policies on January 8, immigration management authorities nationwide have registered a total of 39.72 million people entering and exiting the country as of Tuesday, up by 112 percent from that of the same period last year, the Global Times learned from the National Immigration Administration on Wednesday. 

Inbound and outbound transport, including ferries, trains and airplanes, recorded a surge of 59.3 percent at 2.5 million vehicles in the past two months, according to data shared by the administration. 

Across the country, immigration authorities have issued 3,362,000 passports for private citizens, an increase of 1,221 percent from before the optimized epidemic prevention measure. Over 12,670,000 mainland travel permits for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are issued, up by 838 percent; and 122,000 residence permits for foreigners issued, up by 33 percent. 

Lin Yongsheng, spokesperson for the administration, said that with the steady growth of international passenger flights, and full resumption of personnel exchanges across the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, the personnel flow at entry-exit points has witnessed a significant rebound.

"Immigration authorities will continue to improve all kinds of services and streamline procedures to make full preparation for the continued increase of personnel exchanges between China and overseas," Lin noted. 

Travel agencies in China have also seen a spike in domestic and international travel since January 8. Tuniu.com, a major online travel agency, said on Wednesday the number of tourists in the past two weeks increased by more than 80 percent compared with the previous two weeks, with domestic travel still dominating the market with a proportion of 90 percent. 

In terms of overseas travel, the number of travelers in the past two weeks has hiked by 100 percent compared to the previous two weeks, in which destinations such as Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Bali and Maldives among the most popular destinations.