China sees boom in cross-border travel during National Day holiday

China has seen a boom in cross-border tourism during the week-long National Day holiday, and in particular the number of people entering and exiting the country at airports and seaports in east China's Shandong Province increased significantly.

Since a few days before the National Day, the number of inbound and outbound passengers at Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport has continued to rise. In the first five days of the National Day holiday, the number of inbound and outbound travelers exceeded 30,000, an increase of 21 percent over the same period last year. Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia are among the more popular destinations, with family travel and sightseeing vacations becoming the main driver of inbound and outbound tourism.

"This year's National Day holiday has seen a surge in cross-border tourism, with many travelers opting for international trips during this period. Our company operates flights from Qingdao to Nha Trang, Vietnam, and Kathmandu, Nepal, with an occupancy rate exceeding 85 percent," said Liu Dong, general manager of Qingdao Jiahang Aviation Services Co., Ltd.

The rich route network fully meets the travel demands of passengers, and various visa-free policies and convenient customs clearance allow more people to take a cross-border trip whenever they want.

During the National Day holiday, the number of inbound tourists also increased significantly compared with previous years.

"Very quick, very easy, straight forward. I don't need a visa because I'm 15 days or less staying here," said Michael, a tourist from Ireland, commenting on inbound clearance in to China.

From Oct 1 to 5, the number of passengers entering China through the airport increased by nearly 30 percent compared with the same period last year, among which the number of foreign passengers increased by 82.8 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, many people choose to take a ship rather than plane for a slow-paced tour.

"More and more tourists are taking the China-Korea ro-ro passenger ship, with nearly 800 passengers traveling abroad daily. Compared to other means of transportation, traveling by ship is more relaxing and more cost-effective. Our China-Korea ro-ro passenger ship, which departs in the evening and arrives in the morning, provides such an option for passengers," said Xu Xiaojie, deputy general manager of Yantai Port, a part of Shandong Port Group.

China sees boom in cross-border travel during National Day holiday

The Global Security Initiative (GSI) proposed by China has shifted the paradigm in thinking about global security away from the traditional zero-sum mentality toward a vision rooted in dialogue and development, said a Chinese expert on Tuesday.

In April 2022, China proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which aims to create a new path to security that prioritizes dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance, and win-win over zero-sum thinking.

The initiative provides a new course and approach to addressing the root causes of international conflicts and solving security challenges facing humanity.

During an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Wang Xinsong, associate professor at the School of Government at Beijing Normal University, hailed the initiative's importance amid escalating global challenges.

"It's been four years and we have witnessed that the Global Security Initiative or GSI has transformed from a framework in principle to an action plan with many actions having taken place in mediating the conflicts. The major difference between the GSI and the traditional and the existing mainstream idea about global security is that the mainstream idea is being the zero-sum mentality where the belief is that one country's safety is possible only if its neighbors safety is not existent. The GSI shifts the paradigm in thinking about global security away from the zero-sum mentality by arguing that security at the end of the day is very much related to development," Wang said.

Over the past four years, China has consistently promoted the implementation of the GSI. By the end of 2025, the initiative has received support and appreciation from more than 130 countries and regions, as well as international organizations, and has been explicitly incorporated into more than 140 bilateral and multilateral documents at home and abroad.

China's Global Security Initiative shifts paradigm away from traditional zero-sum mentality: expert