Lao Cai International Border Gate in Lao Cai province. (Photo: VNA)

According to the VNA correspondent in China, the number of people exiting and entering through the Hekou border gate reached an average of 17,8000 per day, with the highest number exceeding 23,000. With this number, Hekou is now the international border gate with the largest number of people exiting and entering in Yunnan province.

The volume of people crossing the border gate is promoted in the context of implementing activities in the framework of “Vietnam-China tourism cooperation 2026-2027”.

According to Hekou Exit-Entry Border Inspection Station, since the beginning of the year, authorities have processed the entry and exit procedures for 20,440 groups of tourists, including 256,000 people joining cross-border tours.

The increasing number of tourists contributes to promoting economic activities at the border region, including tourism, accommodation, food and beverage businesses, and cross-border trade. Remarkably, Vietnamese tourists visiting China for tourism purposes tend to increase, contributing to creating more drivers for people-to-people exchange between the two countries.

With the remaining high number of tourists, Hekou Exit-Entry Border Inspection Station implemented an online customs declaration system for frequent cross-border tourist groups, thereby helping to shorten immigration processing times.

Authorities have also set up guiding places in different languages aligned with international tourists’ demands, while facilitating real-time translation devices to improve the effectiveness and convenience during the immigration procedure.

Hekou is the largest land border gate along the boundary between Yunnan province of China and Vietnam.

The border gate has both highway and railway connections, thereby becoming one of the most important border gates to support people’s travel, trade, and tourism between the two countries.

Implement Transnational Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Tourism Programme The move aims to strengthen tourism cooperation among the three countries, assess the current situation, and identify difficulties in connecting tour routes to propose measures to promote tourism development in the coming period.

Vietnamese and Chinese Customs Strengthen Cooperation to Combat Cross-Border Smuggling To implement the mutual understandings reached by the senior leaders of the two countries, Vietnam Customs and the General Administration of Customs of China have agreed to strengthen cooperation in investigations and efforts to combat smuggling and trade fraud while enhancing information exchange, coordinated inspections, and law enforcement against cross-border crimes.