BEIJING - About 32.21 million Chinese mainland residents made overseas trips in the first half of this year, up 19.9 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

China's Hong Kong, China's Macao, the Republic of Korea, China's Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, the United States, Vietnam, and Cambodia were the 10 most visited destinations by Chinese mainland residents, said a statement released Thursday by the ministry's Bureau of Exit-Entry Administration.

In addition, 12.87 million foreigners visited China in the first half year, up 2.5 percent over the same period last year.

According to the statement, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Russia, the United States, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Canada were the top 10 countries of origin of these visitors.

Altogether 1,564 cases of illegal exit or entry, and 24,000 cases of other violations of exit-entry rules had been recorded from January to June this year, the bureau's figures show.