An official from China's immigration bureau said 1.35 million have people applied for passports and Hong Kong and Macau visas since Jan. 8, the date the country opened its borders after three years.

"The number of applications for entry and exit documents will continue to increase steadily in the near future. The National Immigration Administration will dynamically adjust the management service measures to provide necessary convenience for applicants to travel smoothly," Liu Haitao, director general of the Department of Frontier Inspection and Management under the National Immigration Administration, said on Friday at a National Health Commission news briefing. (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christopher Cushing) )