Xi’an – gateway to China’s northwest and the Belt & Road’s Eurasian land corridor – passed the one-million border-crossing mark on 5 July, officials revealed at a 9 July press briefing reported the next morning by local media. Foreign nationals accounted for 290,000 of those movements, a 17 % year-on-year rise that mirrors national trends. The growth has been propelled by expanded air links at Xi’an Xianyang International Airport and the province’s aggressive courtship of MICE events linked to the ancient Silk Road heritage. Officers said 120,000 arrivals benefitted from 30-day visa-free entry or mutual-waiver schemes, up 31 %. To cope, the Shaanxi Border Inspection Station has rolled out one-stop temporary-entry permits and an online foreigner arrival-card portal showing a 96 % digital-submission rate. The port also recorded an 89 % surge in cargo-flight clearances, underscoring a rebound in e-commerce exports to Central Asia and the Middle East. Global mobility managers sending engineers to the province’s fast-growing EV battery plants can expect shorter queues but should remind travellers to carry printed hotel bookings; random spot checks remain common. The station has warned it will maintain “zero-tolerance” enforcement against overstay or unauthorised employment as volumes climb.
