BEIJING, July 5 -- China recorded 14.64 million inbound trips made by foreigners in the first half of this year, up 152.7 percent year on year, the National Immigration Administration said Friday.

The number of visa-free entries made by foreigners exceeded 8.54 million, accounting for 52 percent of the inbound trips and representing a year-on-year surge of 190.1 percent, according to the administration.

In the first six months of the year, immigration authorities across China had processed 287 million inbound and outbound trips, marking a 70.9 percent rise year on year.

Among them, around 137 million were made by mainland residents, 121 million by residents from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Taiwan region, and 29.22 million by foreigners.