Surging by 96%! "Travel and Shopping in China" Continues to Heat Up in Q1

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting on April 25 to analyze and study the current economic situation and economic work, emphasizing the need to "steadfastly manage our own affairs well and unwaveringly expand high-standard opening-up to the outside world" and to "respond to the uncertainties of a rapidly changing external environment with the certainty of high-quality development," making a series of important arrangements.

In the first quarter of this year, China's economy delivered a remarkable opening performance: the GDP growth rate of 5.4% "exceeded expectations," with all key indicators operating smoothly, indicating that the upward and positive trend of China's economy continues.

Inbound foreign tourists increased by 40.2% YoY.

"China Tourism, China Shopping" continues to heat up in Q1.

In recent years, China has systematically expanded its autonomous and unilateral opening-up. With the continuous release of benefits from a series of visa-free policies, "China Tourism" has continued to heat up. According to the latest data, in the first quarter of this year, inbound foreign tourists reached 9.215 million person-times, up 40.2% YoY. Data shows that in 2024, China received 26.94 million foreign visitors, a year-on-year increase of 96%; inbound tourists' total spending reached US$94.2 billion, up 77.8%. Policies such as tax refunds for departing tourists have continued to strengthen, significantly boosting inbound consumption.

Zhang Jiaqiao, CCTV reporter: A 40.2% YoY increase—this is the growth in inbound foreign tourists in the first quarter of this year. Currently, China has implemented a unilateral visa-free policy for 38 countries, and a transit visa-free policy for 54 countries, extending the stay period to 240 hours, and has introduced a series of policies to facilitate inbound travel. Tax refunds for departing tourists help reduce shopping costs for overseas visitors and are an important entry point for attracting and expanding inbound consumption. Data shows that in 2024, the sales of goods eligible for tax refunds and the amount of tax refunds increased by 1.2 times and 1.3 times YoY, respectively. In response to issues such as the limited number of tax refund stores and the lack of shopping options for tax refunds, at today's press conference of the State Council Information Office, relevant department heads introduced the latest measures to optimize the tax refund policy for departing tourists and expand inbound consumption.

The recently issued "Notice on Further Optimizing the Tax Refund Policy for Departing Tourists to Expand Inbound Consumption" optimizes the layout of tax refund stores, encouraging regions to establish additional tax refund stores in large business districts, pedestrian streets, tourist attractions, and resort areas where overseas tourists gather. It supports eligible regions in creating a number of characteristic tax refund districts to enhance the accessibility of tax refund stores. In addition, the minimum spending threshold for tax refunds has been lowered from 500 yuan to 200 yuan, the tax refund process has been optimized, the tax refund management system has been improved, and waiting times for tourists have been shortened, with the "immediate purchase, immediate refund" service measure being rolled out nationwide.

Furthermore, the supply of high-quality products with Chinese characteristics will be increased, including time-honored brand products, intangible cultural heritage products, famous local specialties, "smart, healthy, and fashionable" consumer goods, and trendy domestic products.

In particular, creative products with cultural connotations, "intangible cultural heritage" goods, characteristic handicrafts, as well as smart products and trendy domestic products that carry the latest development achievements, are widely welcomed by overseas tourists for their uniqueness, quality, and cost-effectiveness.

Profits of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide in Q1

increased by 0.8% YoY.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that in the first quarter, industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide achieved a total profit of 1.50936 trillion yuan, up 0.8% YoY, reversing the downward trend in cumulative profits since the third quarter of last year.

In the first quarter, among the 41 major industrial sectors, 24 sectors saw an increase in profits YoY, accounting for nearly 60% of the total. In particular, the manufacturing sector showed significant improvement, with profits increasing by 7.6% in the first quarter, 2.8 percentage points faster than in January-February, becoming an important support for profit growth. Sectors such as railway, shipbuilding, aerospace, instrumentation, and special equipment manufacturing saw rapid profit growth. In addition, in the first quarter, profits in high-tech manufacturing also improved significantly, turning from a 5.8% YoY decline in January-February to a 3.5% increase, with the growth rate reaching 14.3% in March. Specifically, industries such as aerospace vehicle and equipment manufacturing, smart consumer device manufacturing, and medical instrument, equipment, and machinery manufacturing all achieved rapid profit growth.

On the other hand, driven by policies such as the trade-in of consumer goods, industries such as wearable smart device manufacturing, electric bicycle manufacturing, and household kitchen appliance manufacturing saw profits increase by 78.8%, 65.8%, and 21.7% YoY, respectively. Related industries in the supply chain, such as electronic circuit manufacturing and manufacturing of special parts for household electrical appliances, also achieved double-digit rapid profit growth.