TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The number of Taiwanese visiting China rose 16.86% to 3.23 million in 2025, but was still lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic, reports said Saturday.

The total was 19.94% lower than in 2019, the last full year before COVID, according to data from the Tourism Administration. Factors included tense political relations, a ban on tour groups, and the high level of Taiwanese interest in travel to Japan and South Korea, per CNA.

The government raised the travel alert level for China, Hong Kong, and Macau to orange in June 2024, advising against unnecessary travel. The Mainland Affairs Council said Thursday that 296 Taiwanese had gone missing or been detained in China since Jan. 2024. The number of cases also showed a fourfold increase from 2024 to 2025, the council said.

Taiwan had raised its travel warning to the orange travel after China announced it would take legal action against what it called diehard supporters of Taiwan independence. The threat was seen as endangering the safety of Taiwanese visitors to China.