State Administration of Immigration: In 2024, 610 million arrivals and departures increased by 43.9% year-on-year

The Zhitong Finance App learned that at 10 a.m. on January 14, the State Administration of Immigration held a press conference on the main data and work conditions of immigration management in 2024 to introduce the relevant situation. Lu Ning, the newly appointed press spokesperson of the State Administration of Immigration and Deputy Director of the General Affairs Department, explained that in 2024, immigration authorities across the country inspected a total of 610 million people, an increase of 43.9% over the previous year; of these, 291 million were mainland residents, 254 million Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, and 64.882 million foreigners, up 41.3%, 38.8%, and 82.9%, respectively. A total of 32.566 million inbound and outbound means of transportation (trains, ships, vehicles) were inspected throughout the year, up 38.8% year on year; of these, 879,000 aircraft, 101,000 trains, 437,000 ships, and 31.49,000 motor vehicles, up 62.6%, 11%, 8.2%, and 38.9%, respectively.

The transcript is as follows:

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Director of the Policy and Regulation Department

Lin Yongsheng

Good morning, dear journalists!

Welcome to today's regular press conference of the National Administration of Immigration. Here, I am happy to introduce my new colleague, Ms. Lu Ning, the new press spokesperson of the State Administration of Immigration and Deputy Director of the General Affairs Department.

Deputy Director Lu Ning has worked in various positions at the National Immigration Administration and has rich work experience and good communication skills. I hope everyone can support the work of Deputy Director Lu Ning as much as I have supported my previous speakers.

Next, Deputy Director Lu Ning will be invited to preside over today's regular press conference.

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Deputy Director of the General Division

Lu Ning

Ladies and Gentlemen, Media Friends:

Good morning everyone. Welcome to the press conference of the National Administration of Immigration! I am Lu Ning, the new press spokesperson of the State Administration of Immigration and deputy director of the General Affairs Department. At the beginning of the new year, I am very happy to meet everyone on this platform. In my future work, I hope to establish a good working relationship with everyone and do a good job in the press release of the State Administration of Immigration.

The theme of today's press conference is to report on the main data and work situation of immigration management in 2024, and answer everyone's questions.

First, I would like to inform you about the main data and work situation of immigration management in 2024.

In 2024, the national immigration administration will adhere to Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the Second and Third Plenums of the 20th CPC Central Committee, unswervingly implement the overall national security concept, continue to deepen the reform and innovation of the immigration management service policy system, give full play to its functional role, make every effort to prevent risks, ensure safety, protect stability and promote development, and vigorously maintain the country's political security, border stability and immigration management order. Strong services promote a high level of openness and high-quality development, and successfully complete various tasks throughout the year.

In 2024, immigration authorities across the country inspected a total of 610 million people, up 43.9% year on year; of these, 291 million were mainland residents, 254 million Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, and 64.882 million were foreigners, up 41.3%, 38.8% and 82.9%, respectively. A total of 32.566 million inbound and outbound means of transportation (trains, ships, vehicles) were inspected throughout the year, up 38.8% year on year; including 879,000 aircraft, 101,000 trains, 437,000 ships, and 31.49,000 motor vehicles, up 62.6%, 11%, 8.2%, and 38.9%, respectively. A total of 233.19 million ordinary passports were issued, 94.514 million documents (pieces) for mainland (mainland) residents traveling to and from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up 26.5% and 9.8%, respectively. 2.578 million permits were issued for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents to and from the Mainland (mainland), a slight decrease from the peak of centralized certification after the epidemic in 2023; 2,597 million visas were issued, up 52.3% year on year, and 1.15 million visa-free entry foreigners were issued, up 112.3% year on year. The Immigration Administration's government service platform provided 130 million inquiries and other government services to Chinese and foreign immigrants, and provided free identity verification services to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, overseas Chinese and foreigners; the 12367 service hotline of the National Immigration Administration received 7.0841 million calls for inquiries, suggestions, etc. from Chinese and foreign personnel, with an average satisfaction rate of 99.36%.

In 2024, immigration management agencies across the country will deepen the reform of immigration management services, strengthen the precise supply of policies and systems, and inject new vitality and momentum into a high level of openness and high-quality development. They have successively launched 18 policy measures to facilitate foreigners to come to China, including 240-hour visa-free transit, visa-free entry for foreign tour groups, and expanding the reasons for people from 59 countries to enter Hainan, continuously optimizing visa-free transit, regional visa-free entry, and port visa policies, and implementing 24-hour direct transit exemption procedures at 9 hub airports including Beijing, to actively cooperate with relevant authorities to promote payment, accommodation, and transportation for foreigners Facilitation, etc., is a powerful service for stabilizing foreign investment and stabilizing foreign trade. Focusing on serving regional coordinated development strategies and major regional strategies, a number of immigration reform measures such as electronic port visas have been piloted in Shanghai, implemented a number of measures such as promoting the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China, the rise of the central region, the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, and the construction of a radiation center facing South Asia and Southeast Asia in Yunnan, and introduced a number of measures to support open platforms such as the China-Vietnam Detian (Panyue) Waterfall Cross-border Tourism Cooperation Zone to support the opening of a large number of ports to the outside world to help key regions accelerate the shaping of a new pattern of open development. Focusing on supporting the better integration of Hong Kong and Macao into the overall development of the country and promoting cross-strait integration and development, introducing ten immigration policies and measures to support Fujian's construction of a cross-strait integrated development demonstration zone, expanding the scope of issuing vouchers for talents traveling to and from Hong Kong and Macao, innovatively implementing “nearby” and “smart” business endorsements to Hong Kong and Macao, adding 10 “personal travel” cities to Hong Kong and Macao, expanding the implementation of “one trip per week” and “one enterprise and multiple trips” to Hong Kong and Macao. Policies and measures strongly serve the overall work situation of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Driven by “doing one thing efficiently”, 20 cities including Beijing have piloted the implementation of “full online processing” for mainland residents to exchange and reissue ordinary passports, travel permits to Hong Kong and Macau, and travel permits to and from Taiwan, to achieve “no running once” for entry and exit documents, pilot implementation of a “no need to show documents” channel, and 22 county-level public security authorities, including Zhejiang Wencheng, can accept and issue foreign visa documents nearby, and continuously improve the efficiency of immigration management services.

In 2024, the national immigration administration will always put safeguarding the country's political security first, unswervingly implement the overall national security concept, adhere to strict regulation of fair and civilized law enforcement, comprehensively promote “cat hunting” operation 2024, which harms the management of the country's (border) border, carry out in-depth summer security crackdown and rectification operations, continue to deepen the governance of the “three African countries” foreigners, resolutely build a stable barrier to national border security, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests. It took the lead in jointly evaluating 5 safe border model counties, cities, and 20 model townships for the first time, using spot-on radiation to drive the level of control capacity in border areas. More than 35,000 criminal cases of obstruction of the country's (border) border management were investigated and handled throughout the year, more than 79,000 criminal suspects were arrested, and 906 criminal gangs were knocked out. Among them, 328 major cases were listed and supervised, and 518 fugitives targeted by “snakes hunters” were apprehended. Crimes involving gun explosions, drug trafficking and other illegal crimes in border areas have been severely cracked down, and 494 drug cases involving 653 people have been seized, including 105 cases of 10,000 grams or more, and 7.8 tons of various drugs have been seized; more than 2,000 guns of various types and more than 100,000 bullets have been seized. We successfully hosted the 10th meeting of the heads of border control departments of the competent authorities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member countries and the Global Public Safety Cooperation Forum Immigration Management Cooperation Sub-Forum, and participated deeply in global immigration governance to ensure safety and promote development through safety.

The achievements made in immigration management over the past year are fundamentally due to the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, thanks to the understanding and support of all sectors of society and the vast number of immigrants and immigrants, and the unity, struggle, dedication and sacrifice of the vast number of police personnel in immigration management agencies.

In 2024, 1 group of national immigration management agencies was awarded the National Model Collective for National Unity and Progress, and 3 auxiliary police officers were awarded National Model Individuals for National Unity and Progress, and were solemnly commended by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. More than 80 groups and more than 240 individuals have received commendations or second-class merit awards at or above the provincial ministry level. Fifteen auxiliary police officers died in the line of duty, and 66 auxiliary police officers were injured in the line of duty. They used their blood and lives to carry out the solemn promise of “people's public security for the people”.

In the new year, we will faithfully carry out the immigration management missions and tasks assigned by the Party and people in the new era, continue to struggle and forge ahead, strive to modernize immigration management, and contribute greater immigration management strength to the promotion of a strong nation and national rejuvenation!

That is what I want to report today. Now, all reporters are welcome to ask questions of interest about the theme of today's press conference. Please let me know the name of your media before asking questions.

Oriental TV Reporter

We note that in 2024, the National Immigration Service introduced a series of policy measures to facilitate the entry of foreigners into China. The most notable one is the comprehensive relaxation and optimization of the visa-free transit policy. Can you give us a brief introduction to these measures and the results of their implementation.

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Deputy Director of the General Division

Lu Ning

Over the past year, the State Administration of Immigration has focused on promoting a higher level of openness to the outside world, and has continued to introduce a series of flexible and convenient policies for foreigners to come to China. Together with relevant departments, it has implemented unilateral visa-free access for 38 countries and comprehensive mutual visa exemption with 26 countries. At the same time, it has continued to deepen immigration management reform and policy system innovation, continuously optimize policies such as port visas, visa-free transit, and visa-free regional entry, and actively promote personnel exchanges. The number of foreigners visiting China has increased markedly.

The first is to introduce five measures to facilitate foreigners coming to China to relax the conditions for applying for port visas, and to facilitate expatriates in China to apply for visa extensions, exchanges, and re-entry visas nearby.

Second, implement a more relaxed visa-free entry policy at the Hainan Free Trade Port, expand the reasons for people from 59 countries to enter Hainan without a visa, and implement a 144-hour visa-free policy for foreign tour groups from Hong Kong and Macao to enter Hainan.

Third, fully implement the visa-free entry policy for foreign tour groups, and simultaneously add 7 cruise ports in Dalian, Lianyungang, Wenzhou, Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beihai, etc. as ports applicable to China's visa-free transit policy.

Fourth, fully relax and optimize the visa-free transit policy, extending the length of time for visa-free transit foreigners staying in China from 72 hours and 144 hours to 240 hours. The total number of ports covered by the policy was increased from 39 to 60, and the total number of applicable provinces increased from 19 to 24.

According to statistics, in 2024, the State Administration of Immigration issued a total of 1.476,000 port visas, an increase of 87.3% over the previous year, providing 72,000 people with the convenience of applying for visa extensions, exchanges and reissues nearby. The number of people applying the visa-free transit policy, which everyone is most concerned about, increased by 113.5% over the same period last year. In particular, after the overall relaxation of the optimization policy, the number of people coming to China applying this policy increased 29.5% month-on-month.

Various favorable policies have been introduced continuously, making it a reality for foreign tourists to “just say it” and have fueled China's inbound travel market. Media traffic on the “China Travel” (China Travel) theme has surpassed 1 billion on the international internet. “Going to China on Friday” has become a new international trend. More foreign friends have come to China to experience firsthand the beauty of China in the new era. Relevant reports show that while the number of inbound tourists and consumption in our country is growing rapidly, the satisfaction of foreign tourists is also steadily increasing. Convenient channels to China have not only promoted exchanges and cultural exchanges between Chinese and foreign personnel, but also injected new momentum into enriching forms of inbound tourism, speeding up the process of integrated regional tourism cooperation, and promoting the collaborative development of global tourism.

In the next step, the National Administration of Immigration will focus on services to promote a high level of openness and high-quality development, steadily expand institutional openness, continuously release the dividends of the visa-free policy, and further facilitate exchanges and exchanges between Chinese and foreign personnel.

China Traffic Radio Reporter

Since December 1 of last year, the China Immigration Administration has implemented a “one visa, multiple travel” policy for travel to Hong Kong in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Since January 1 of this year, it has also implemented a “one travel per week” policy to Macau in Zhuhai, Guangdong, and a “one visa, multiple travel” policy to Macau in the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone. Please tell me about the situation since the implementation of the policy? What steps have been taken to ensure implementation of the policy?

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Deputy Director of the General Division

Lu Ning

Thanks for the question. Since the implementation of the “one visa, multiple trips” and “one trip a week” policies for traveling to Hong Kong and Macao in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone, the Hong Kong and Macao SAR government, all sectors of society, and the media have paid great attention and positive reviews. According to statistics, since December 1, 2024, the entry/exit administration departments of the public security authorities have issued 299,000 “one visa for multiple trips” to Hong Kong; since January 1 of this year, 59,000 “one trip a week” endorsements were issued, and more than 6,000 “one signature and multiple travel” vouchers were issued for trips to Macau. Passenger traffic to Hong Kong and Macau increased significantly. Mainland and Hong Kong and Macao residents continued to heat up in both directions. The issuance of documents was safe and orderly, and customs clearance at ports was efficient and smooth. The implementation of the policy is of great positive significance in further facilitating mainland residents to visit Hong Kong and Macao for sightseeing, shopping and spending, promote the economic and social development of Hong Kong and Macao, and serve Hong Kong and Macao to better integrate into the overall national development agenda.

In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the policy, our bureau is focusing on three areas of work. The first is to optimize and upgrade the entry/exit document issuance and border inspection system. Strengthen guidance and training for entry/exit management departments and border inspection agencies of relevant local public security agencies, promptly connect with the entry/exit administration departments of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions to coordinate policies, and make every effort to ensure orderly certification and smooth customs clearance for the majority of applicants. The second is to respond positively to the peak of entry/exit certification. After the implementation of the policy, the public's enthusiasm for certification was high. Nearly 10,000 people were certified on December 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025, respectively. In order to effectively cope with the peak of certification, our bureau guides the entry/exit management departments of the Guangdong Public Security Administration to strengthen service equipment and window guidance to ensure that the police force is sufficient in front desk consultation and reception, manual window reception, and smart device services. At the same time, do a good job of publicity and guidance, actively carry out policy promotion and consultation and answers, respond promptly to the concerns of the public, and achieve “immediate departure, just go” for Hong Kong and Macao tours. The third is to take the initiative to provide high-quality customs clearance services. The Shenzhen and Zhuhai border control terminals were deployed to respond to the increase in passenger traffic at the beginning of the implementation of the policy, compounding the peak of traditional passenger flow at the port of Guangdong at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. Emergency response plans were launched around the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays, additional on-site police forces were added, and advance guidance efforts were increased to provide strong guarantees for the implementation of the policy. After the implementation of the policy, there were obvious results in promoting personnel exchanges. According to statistics, since December 1, 2024, 1.04 million people from Shenzhen have left Hong Kong, an increase of 22.3% over the previous year; since January 1 this year, 257,000 visitors from Zhuhai have left Macau, an increase of 26.1% over the previous year.

Next, our bureau will thoroughly study and implement the spirit of President Xi Jinping's important speech at the conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, continue to strengthen immigration management services to and from Hong Kong and Macao in accordance with the central government's work decisions and arrangements on Hong Kong and Macao, ensure the orderly implementation of the “one visa, multiple trips” and “one trip per week” policies for travel to Hong Kong and Macao, further promote personnel exchanges and the economic and social development of Hong Kong and Macao, and maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao.

CCTV reporter at the general station

As mentioned in the notice just now, in 2024, the State Administration of Immigration will be very fruitful in its fight against crimes that hinder the management of a country's (border) border. What new deployments and operations will come out in the new year?

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Deputy Director of the General Division

Lu Ning

Thank you for your question. In 2024, the State Administration of Immigration directed and deployed a national immigration administration agency, working with various police departments to successfully knock out a large number of organized criminal smuggling gangs, cut off a large number of smuggling channels, and destroyed a large number of illegal interest chains, greatly deterred the arrogance of domestic and foreign criminals, and also accumulated a lot of valuable experience. In 2025, the State Administration of Immigration will continue to carry out special crackdown operations with higher standards, more detailed deployment, and more practical measures, focus on building a new “professional+mechanism+big data” police operation model, improve and improve the investigation and crackdown system of immigration management systems, continuously improve new combat capabilities to combat crimes that hinder national (border) border management, and make every effort to maintain national security, border stability, and entry/exit management order. The first is to continue the offensive of heavy punishments. We will continue to follow the work goal of “breaking gangs, breaking channels, slashing 'snipers', and destroying networks”, adhering to centralized investigation and judgment of cases of the same type, coordinated investigation of cases across regions, cracking down on the whole chain of crime, and carrying out cluster campaigns in multiple waves, continuing to maintain a severe and high-pressure situation against all kinds of crimes that hinder the management of national (border) borders, and uninterrupted crackdown. The second is to continue to strengthen “breaking the chain and breaking blood” efforts. Insist on digging deep and cracking down on the behind-the-scenes, severely punishing criminal gangs according to law, resolutely eradicating key leaders, and achieving the effect of “unearthing one, knocking out one string”. The vehicles, ships, etc. involved in the case were seized in accordance with the law, illegal proceeds were recovered in accordance with the law, the foundation of criminal gangs was destroyed, the foundation of criminal gangs was destroyed, and criminal networks were completely eradicated. Third, continue to strengthen evasion and arrest measures. Carry out in-depth offensive operations to hunt down important fugitive suspects of crimes that hinder the management of national (border) borders, comprehensively squeeze the hiding space of fugitives at home and abroad through various methods and methods, and make every effort to apprehend and bring to justice the organizers, carriers, and key elements behind the scenes who hide, hibernate, and flee. Fourth, continue to strengthen the “cure all in one” joint effort. Promote the inclusion of anti-smuggling work within the scope of comprehensive management at the grassroots level, carry out centralized remediation activities in key regions, investigate and control key personnel involved in illegal smuggling crimes, ban a number of illegal intermediaries in accordance with the law, and actively work with various departments to form a new situation of port border management involving joint problem management, risk control, and safety. Fifth, continue to deepen international law enforcement cooperation. Use various law enforcement cooperation platforms and channels to promote the establishment and improvement of law enforcement cooperation mechanisms and jointly maintain normal entry and exit management order between countries.

Beijing Radio and Television Reporter

The Spring Festival holiday is coming soon, and the number of visitors entering and leaving ports across the country continues to rise. What measures will the State Administration of Immigration take to ensure smooth customs clearance for Chinese and foreign tourists?

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Deputy Director of the General Division

Lu Ning

Thank you for your question. With the continuous optimization of policies to facilitate the movement of people, such as visa-free transit and visa-free entry, personnel exchanges between China and foreign countries are becoming more frequent and growing rapidly. In order to ensure smooth customs clearance for Chinese and foreign tourists, we have mainly taken the following three measures: the first is to strengthen monitoring of inbound and outbound traffic and port operations. Port customs clearance “two announcements and one reminder” are promptly issued during the holidays to provide reference for travel arrangements for entry/exit personnel. Second, scientific organizations work. Set up sufficient police forces, open up inspection channels, innovate inspection models, strengthen reminders and guidance, ensure timely and dynamic peak cuts during peak passenger flow periods, and ensure that Chinese citizens wait no more than 30 minutes for entry and exit customs clearance. Third, cooperate closely with relevant departments. Steadily ensure passenger flow guidance and comprehensive transportation support during peak customs clearance periods, further enhance port customs clearance guarantee capabilities, and jointly ensure safe, efficient and smooth customs clearance at ports. At the same time, we will insist on carrying out our duties in accordance with the law, firmly establish a fair and civilized law enforcement concept, and while effectively protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens leaving the country, we will resolutely prevent and crack down on illegal crimes involving entry and exit in accordance with the law, and establish a legal, safe, and orderly entry/exit management order. Take the initiative to strengthen safety risk reminders, guide citizens not to go to dangerous places, and avoid personal abuse and property damage.

Here, all inbound and outbound travelers are reminded that if they encounter difficulties during the customs clearance process, they can call the 12367 service hotline of the State Administration of Immigration or seek help from the immigration control police on duty at the scene at any time.

People's Daily reporter

Currently, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents and overseas Chinese have more frequent and closer contacts, and the need to use entry and exit documents for sightseeing, tourism, and lifestyle development is more prominent. In recent years, the State Administration of Immigration, together with relevant industry authorities, has continued to promote the facilitation and application of entry and exit documents. Remarkable results have been achieved. Can you introduce the relevant situation? Thank you.

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Deputy Director of the General Division

Lu Ning

Thanks for the question. In order to further facilitate the lives and development of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents and overseas Chinese, our bureau specially developed and built an entry/exit document authentication platform in 2019. Together with 17 departments including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, the People's Bank of China, and China Railway Group, we are strongly promoting the facilitation and application of entry and exit documents. Up to now, the service areas and scope have covered more than 40 categories of matters in 10 major fields, including transportation, finance, telecommunications, education, medical care, social security, taxation, accommodation, cultural tourism, etc. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents and overseas Chinese can enjoy convenient, efficient, intelligent and accurate certification services.

In 2024, our bureau, together with relevant departments, vigorously accelerated the facilitation and application of entry and exit documents, and achieved new results in three areas: the first is to achieve new expansion in the field of application. Together with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, we are actively promoting the convenient application of entry and exit documents in the field of cultural tourism. Licensees will be more convenient and faster in visiting scenic spots, watching shows, entering stadiums, and residences, etc., so they can better experience the development and progress of the motherland, its splendid culture, and beautiful scenery. At the same time, a communication and promotion mechanism has been established with relevant Internet companies to provide more efficient and convenient services for license holders to handle Internet application matters, so that the vast majority of compatriots can better enjoy the “dividends” brought by the rapid development of the national Internet industry. Second, there has been a new increase in the number of people using certificates. In 2024, our entry/exit document identification platform provided a total of 32.56 million real-time free verification services for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents and overseas Chinese, an increase of 5.4% over the previous year. Among them, the number of homecoming permits was verified reached 21.09 million, exceeding 100 million. The number of Taiwanese compatriot certification checks reached 6.78 million, an increase of 25.1% over the previous year, and maintained a rapid growth trend. More and more Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents and overseas Chinese can successfully obtain certification, work, live, and operate businesses, which strongly promotes personnel exchanges and deepens exchanges and integration. Third, new results have been achieved in the construction of the demonstration zone. Guangdong and Fujian are gathering places for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents. Our bureau deployed the entry/exit management departments of the public security authorities of the two provinces to give full play to their location advantages, take the lead in building demonstration zones for convenient applications, give them more pilot tasks, explore new application areas and application matters, comprehensively sort out nearly 300 government affairs and public services frequently used by Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, continuously optimize the licensing experience of the license holders, and use demonstration as a driving effect to accumulate experience and practices to comprehensively deepen facilitation applications, providing a favorable environment for the vast majority of compatriots to participate deeply in national construction.

Facilitating the application of entry and exit documents is a national and basic project involving various fields and departments. It is a long-term work that continues to be promoted. Next, our bureau will keep a close eye on the new licensing needs and expectations of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents and overseas Chinese, and continue to expand the application areas and scope of services for entry and exit documents. In response to the real and urgent demands of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents in the Mainland (mainland) who want to link information between permits and residence permits and facilitate emergency travel after losing their passes, we are actively studying and introducing a “dual license link” service and issuing temporary identity cards, and strive to provide better services and more convenience to the majority of our compatriots, and effectively solve problems for them.

Sansha TV reporter

As mentioned in the notice just now, in 2024, the national immigration administration carried out an in-depth summer security crackdown and rectification operation, which strongly deterred cross-border illegal and criminal activities. Various hidden risks were effectively addressed, and the results were very obvious. So are there any new deployments or operations recently?

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Deputy Director of the General Division

Lu Ning

Thanks for the question. According to the unified deployment of the Ministry of Public Security, from the end of November 2024 to the end of February 2025, the State Administration of Immigration deployed national immigration authorities to carry out winter security crackdown and rectification operations (hereinafter referred to as “Winter Operation”). The main tasks are to crack down on cross-border illegal and criminal activities with winter characteristics, promptly resolve hidden port border risks, and effectively maintain port border security and stability. Since the launch of “Operation Winter”, a total of 2,811 criminal cases of obstruction of the country's (border) border management have been investigated, 9985 Chinese and foreign criminal suspects have been arrested, 62 criminal gangs have been knocked out, 208 vehicles (ships) involved have been seized, and multiple smuggling routes have been cut off; 55 drug cases have been uncovered, 77 suspects have been arrested, and 254.9 kilograms of drugs have been seized; 11 cases of illegal gun possession have been arrested, and 60 guns of various types and 2,055 bullets have been seized; There were 1,680 cases, 539 people involved in the case were arrested, and various types of smuggling were uncovered The case value of the item was over 77.6 million yuan. The National Immigration Administration's “Winter Operation” has achieved fruitful results in stages.

Entering the new year, the State Administration of Immigration will continue to further advance the “Winter Campaign”, focusing on strengthening the crackdown on illegal and criminal activities in winter and rectifying outstanding security issues; focusing on strengthening the sorting, mapping, prevention and treatment of hidden port border risks; focusing on consolidating the grass-roots foundation of immigration management and serving the public; continuously improving the ability to manage new quality of immigration management; and continuously improving the safety and satisfaction of people and entry/exit personnel in border areas to ensure that the “Winter Operation” achieves new and greater results.

Press spokesperson for the National Immigration Service

Deputy Director of the General Division

Lu Ning

Thank you to all our reporters and friends for attending today's press conference. Due to time constraints, that's all for our questions. Dear journalists, if you have further interview requests, please contact the Office of the Spokesperson of the State Administration of Immigration. The Lunar New Year is coming soon. Here, I wish all media reporters and friends, inbound and outbound travelers, and friends from all walks of life at home and abroad who have long cared about and supported immigration management. I wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year, smooth work, good health, and all the best! We'll meet again next time. Thank you.

This article was edited by the State Administration of Immigration, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Wenfang.