(ECNS) -- Over 2.4 million entry-exit personnel were inspected at ports of northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the first half of 2026, marking a 33.2% increase year on year, official data showed Tuesday.

The region hit the 2-million entry-exit trips milestone 39 days earlier than in 2025, highlighting the strong opening-up vitality of Xinjiang as a core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, according to the Xinjiang entry-exit border inspection administration.

Official statistics show that nearly 1.23 million exit trips and 1.18 million entry trips were recorded in the first half of the year, up 34.8% and 31.6% year-on-year, respectively.

"Self-driving trips to Kazakhstan are extremely convenient now. The whole trip is smooth and worry-free as we have dedicated lanes and very fast customs clearance," Jiang Weijie, a tourist from Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, told Xinhua News Agency.

In the first half of the year, cross-border self-driving trips registered at Xinjiang ports surged nearly 4.5 times, and nearly 1,500 cross-border foreign tourist groups were recorded, the regional immigration authority said.

(By Zhang Dongfang)