Hong Kong West Kowloon Station welcomes over 1 mln foreign travelers to mainland so far this year

The Hong Kong West Kowloon Station has handled more than 1 million international traveler entries this year as of Tuesday, a 34 percent year-on-year increase, reflecting the rising popularity of travel to China and the station's role as an entry point into the mainland.

Thanks to Hong Kong's role as an international aviation hub and its enhanced connectivity with mainland cities via the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway, the West Kowloon railway station has emerged as the land port to cross the 1-million mark 75 days earlier than last year.

"We are from the Netherlands. We go to Beijing. My father and my sister already went to China with this train. And we want to go to see the ancient Chinese culture and also the nature inside the mainland, very beautiful," said Paul, a Dutch traveler.

Among the 1 million travelers, 56 percent entered China visa-free, according to data from Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection.

China currently offers unilateral visa-free entry to nationals of 50 countries. Meanwhile, nationals from 55 countries can now utilize the 240-hour visa-free transit program to enter China via 65 designated ports.

In the first half of this year, visa-free entries by foreign nationals surged 30.6 percent year on year to surpass 17.8 million, accounting for 77.7 percent of all foreign arrivals, according to the National Immigration Administration.

Hong Kong West Kowloon Station welcomes over 1 mln foreign travelers to mainland so far this year

The Youyiguan Port, or Friendship Pass, in Pingxiang City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region neighboring Vietnam registered sharp growth in the value of imports and exports in the first half of this year.

The port, China's main gateway to Vietnam, recorded a total import and export cargo value of 364.12 billion yuan (about 53.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months, up 26 percent year on year.

The trade with ASEAN member states dominated the port's performance, with the value of imports from and exports to ASEAN countries reaching 361.4 billion yuan in the January-June period, a 26.2 percent increase year on year, accounting for 99.3 percent of the port's total cross-border volume.

Machinery and electronic products remained the main categories of imports and exports through the port.

To facilitate economic and trade exchanges between China and ASEAN countries, the local customs authorities have introduced a series of measures to simplify the customs declaration and clearance procedures, raising the overall inspection efficiency by 40 percent.

South China's Friendship Pass registers sharp growth in value of imports, exports in January-June