Source: Hong Kong Economic Herald Correspondent: Shi Xueqing
On the morning of September 12, the 2025 Guangdong International Tourism Industry Expo (hereinafter referred to as "Travel Expo") opened in Area A of the Guangzhou China Import and Export Commodity Fair. The Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station has participated in the exhibition for the second consecutive year. With the theme of "Zhuo Yue Border Inspection Silky Clearance", it has introduced entry and exit convenience measures in all aspects through policy interpretation, interactive Q&A, special lectures, etc., injecting "border inspection momentum" into the inbound tourism market.
The first entry exhibition area has set up a border inspection service to accurately match new needs
This year's Tourism Expo will last for three days and set up an inbound tourism exhibition area for the first time, closely following the trend of the continuous heating of my country's inbound tourism market. As the main force in the entry and exit management of Guangdong ports, the Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station is based on its location advantages and focuses on the dual main lines of "policy implementation + service experience", and set up a consultation desk and interactive area on site. The immigration management police of the Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station Zhoutouzui Border Inspection Station answered "face-to-face" hot issues at home and abroad, including exhibitors, buyers and tourists on the 240 transit visa-free policy and transit process; and held a special immigration management and convenient customs clearance policy briefing, which intuitively conveyed the "policy dividends" through case analysis and data visualization presentation, help exhibitors and tourists quickly grasp the latest customs clearance policies.
">"We hope to use the Tourism Expo platform to "front" border inspection services to the front line of the cultural and tourism industry, which not only provides foreign tourists with "one-stop" policy consultation, but also provides customized customs clearance solutions for tourism enterprises." Zheng Ying, political commissar of the Zhoutouji Border Inspection Station of Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station, said.
Continuous optimization of the customs clearance experience of policy dividends
In recent years, the State Immigration Administration has continued to launch a series of optimization measures: implement unilateral visa-free or comprehensive mutual visa-free for more than 60 countries, expand the visa-free "circle of friends"; extend the visa-free stay time for foreigners to 240 hours (formerly 144 hours), and superimpose regional entry visa-free policies to form a multi-level convenience system of "visa-free + transit + regional discounts". These policies accurately match the in-depth travel needs of foreign tourists and promote the expansion and quality of the inbound tourism market.
As one of the popular inbound destinations in the country, Guangzhou's hub advantages continue to be highlighted. In the first half of this year, foreign tourists entering the country through the ports under the Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station showed an upward trend, reaching more than 1.52 million, an increase of 40% year-on-year, exceeding the same period in 2019, and the passenger flow reached a record high. Among them, more than 760,000 people entered the country for tourism and leisure purposes, accounting for 50%, an increase of 9 percentage points year-on-year. More than 40,000 foreign tourists enjoying the 24/240-hour transit visa-free policy, an increase of 22% year-on-year, setting a record high.
"240-hour transit visa-free allows passengers who conduct business inspections and cultural and tourism transit to arrange their itineraries more calmly. Many passengers reported that "Guangzhou customs clearance is fast and has a good experience" and are willing to extend their stay time." The immigration management police at the Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station on the scene introduced.
Empower the cultural and tourism industry to create a high-level open "national door window"
"The port of entry is the "first window" to show China's image and is also the "key link" to optimize the business environment." Zhou Chunhao, deputy director of the Border Defense Inspection Office of the Zhoutouzui Border Inspection Station, said in an interview that the Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station is guided by "Zhuoyue Border Inspection" and provides a "silk-silk" customs clearance experience for tourist groups and individual tourists through measures such as setting up consultation guidance, optimizing service organization, and upgrading intelligent inspection equipment.
According to reports, this Tourism Expo brings together official cultural and tourism institutions and enterprises from more than 50 countries and regions around the world, and representatives of cultural and tourism industries from all provinces and cities across the country participated in the exhibition. It is one of the comprehensive international tourism exhibitions with a high degree of internationalization and mature market-oriented operation in my country. The continuous exhibition at the Guangzhou Border Inspection General Station is not only a practice serving the national strategy, but also an innovative exploration of the "big industry" of cultural and tourism through the "small incision" of border inspection, providing solid support for promoting high-level opening up to the outside world and promoting international cultural exchanges.
