Shanghai ports see summer cross-border travel surge

(ECNS) -- Shanghai recorded more than 4 million total inbound and outbound trips between July 1 and August 4 this summer, averaging 117,000 daily, Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection announced on Wednesday.

The summer travel surge has been driven largely by family groups and student travelers. In July alone, outbound trips by Chinese mainland residents via Shanghai ports reached 1.167 million, a 24.2% increase from June. Among them, Pudong and Hongqiao airports accounted for more than 1.09 million outbound passenger clearances.

Cruises have emerged as a top option for family holidays. In this summer, the Wusongkou International Cruise Port is also seeing rising popularity for multi-generational family cruise getaways.

International tourism into Shanghai also maintained robust growth, with 467,000 foreign visitors entering the city in July, up 19.4% year on year. Nearly 63% of these arrivals used China’s visa-free or 240-hour visa-free transit policies. Authorities have optimized staffing and dynamically opened extra inspection lanes to handle the peak summer passenger flows.

(By Intern Lin Qiaochu, Zhang Dongfang)