Shanghai's international arrivals and departures ranked nation's top in 2023

Border inspection authorities in Shanghai said it served more than 16.8 million inbound and outbound travelers via airports in 2023, ranking first in the Chinese mainland for 21 consecutive years.

Among them, 3.56 million foreigners were inspected entering and leaving the country, 19 times more than that of 2022, accounting for around 10 percent of the national total.

In the past year, the Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection beefed up efforts in foreigner information collection guidance, offering sufficient amount of Foreigner Entry Cards and more staff to help with filling them in.

Meanwhile, Shanghai granted six international airlines, including Delta Air Lines Inc, Air France and Air Holland, to pilot the use of electronic boarding passes for departure border control procedures, so as to cope with the congestion caused by the increase in passenger flow after the resumption of global flights.

More than 20,000 foreign travelers have benefited from the 144-hour visa-free transit policy since its was resumed in January 2023.