NIA Spares No Effort to Ensure Safe, Efficient, and Smooth Exit-Entry Services at Ports During Spring Festival Holiday

The National Immigration Administration (NIA) recently made a special arrangement to ensure smooth exit-entry services at ports during the Spring Festival holiday. All border inspection authorities across China are required to take effective measures to guarantee safe, efficient, and smooth exit-entry services at ports during the holiday. After the downgrade in COVID-19 management level from Class A to Class B, China has been witnessing a continuous upward trend of exit-entry travelers. According to NIA, new peaks in both the inbound and outbound travels are to be observed at exit-entry ports before and after the Spring Festival holiday. Border inspection authorities at all levels across China have been ordered by NIA to strengthen the monitoring of exit-entry traveler volumes and port operations, track and analyze key data and fluctuation in main indicators, and keep focused on the real-time movements of exit-entry travelers and vehicles waiting for port inspection. The policy of the "Two Announcements and One Reminder" (i.e. announcements of the information on the predicted passenger flow and plans of queuing, and reminders of traffic safety) should be strictly implemented. Specifically, the information on the predicted passenger flow and the crowd control measures shall be released in time to help Chinese and overseas exit-entry travelers make proper travel plans. All border inspection authorities are required to optimize the arrangement of their on-site services, deploy sufficient police officers, and effectively implement crowd control and diversion to manage traffic peaks in a rapid and dynamic manner. Coordination mechanisms with joint inspection authorities at ports and relevant local authorities shall be further improved. Reliable and specific arrangements should be made for the management of passenger flow in different phases during peak hours, delayed customs clearance, crowd control, passenger evacuation, etc. The role of the port and border liaison mechanism shall be maximized. The border inspection authorities at the ports of China are also ordered to collaborate with their counterparts at the nearest overseas ports to study and assess the exit-entry operation situations during the Spring Festival holiday, to ensure efficient exit-entry services at ports. The relevant authorities are ordered to enforce the law in a strict, standardized, fair, and civilized manner while achieving political, legal, and social harmony.