As of Saturday, checkpoints in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen had processed more than one hundred million cross-border passenger trips, reaching this milestone seventeen days earlier than last year and reinforcing the city's position as one of the busiest transport hubs in the country.

According to the Shenzhen General Administration of Border Control, the average daily passenger flow reached eight hundred and twenty-five thousand people, an increase of 13.5 percent compared to the previous year, allowing Shenzhen to firmly hold the top rank nationwide.

Officials stated that the introduction of the 240-hour visa-free transit, mutual visa exemption and unilateral visa-free entry has further increased the number of foreign tourists traveling through Shenzhen.

As of Saturday, the second day of the five-day May Day holidays, nearly three million border crossings by foreign passengers were recorded at Shenzhen's checkpoints, an increase of 28 percent year on year. Among them, about seven hundred thousand were made through visa-free entry, up 48 percent from the previous year.

The city of Shenzhen, bordering the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, serves as a key gateway to mainland China both for Hong Kong and Macao as well as for the rest of the world, thanks to the bays on both sides of the city and the Bao'an International Airport.