An international traveler passes through custom clearance at the airport. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

Flight CX958 touched down at Hangzhou International Airport on March 17, marking a major milestone – over 1 million inbound and outbound passengers have passed through the airport in the first quarter, an 8.7-percent year-on-year increase.

Among them, 160,000 were foreign nationals, up 37.8 percent, while visa-free entries exceeded 40,000, surging over 134 percent compared to the same period last year.

This sharp rise follows China's recent optimization of its transit visa-free policies, which continue to make travel easier for foreign nationals. At Hangzhou airport, passengers from visa-exempt countries such as South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand led the increase, with tourism, business visits, and conferences remaining the most common purposes of entry.

To manage the steadily growing demand, Hangzhou Immigration Inspection has leveraged artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency and reduce wait times.

One of the key tools is a custom-developed smart monitoring system that uses 3D vision sensing, data modeling, and AI analysis to monitor real-time activity across 32 outbound inspection lanes. The system provides queue analytics, estimated wait times, and congestion forecasting.

In addition, the introduction of the Fingertip Services mobile app has improved communication between border inspection and airlines, while smart terminals now allow foreign travelers to fill out entry cards digitally, supported by pre-arrival biometric data collection and digital boarding pass usage.

Brazilian traveler Xavier Marcio praised the improvements, noting that he was able to fill out all transit information on his phone before landing. "All I had to do was scan the code upon arrival—much faster than handwriting everything," he said.

An officer of the Hangzhou Immigration Inspection assists an international traveler with customs clearance. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]