Travellers to and from China up 4.76% to 431m

Statistics from the China’s Ministry of Public Security’s Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration show the Chinese mainland recorded 431 million entries and exits in 2012, registering a year-on-year increase of 4.76%. The total entries and exits included 166 million trips by mainlanders, 210 million by residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and 54.35 million by foreigners. Travellers that crossed China’s border posts via cars, airplanes, railway and ship were 25.0488 million, up 0.82% from 2011 figures. The number of travellers departing from the mainland China in 2012 was 83.1817 million, up 18.33% from the corresponding period in 2011 while the number of foreigners entering China was 54.3515 million, an increase of 0.35%. China’s exit and entry inspectors apprehended 802 fugitives on the country’s “wanted” list in 2012. Last year, border inspection authorities caught 2,614 people attempting to illegally enter or exit the country, the Ministry of Public Security said.