Dai Bin | Changes in Traffic Growth: "China Purchases" Show New Trends

Dai Bin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of the China Tourism Research Institute, was invited to publish a signed article titled "Increasing Traffic: New Changes in 'China Shopping'" in the 8th issue of the People's Forum in 2026. The article aims to create a modern, fashionable, humanistic, and green national tourism image, increase the promotion of shopping tourism brand routes, cultivate professional shopping tourism operators and well-known tourism retail brands, and inject new momentum into the construction of a strong tourism country. The full text is shared as follows: [Abstract] China's inbound tourism market has ushered in a new cycle of prosperous development and new opportunities for consumption growth, and it is timely to build the "Buy in China" brand. At the same time, it should be noted that the proportion of shopping consumption among inbound tourists in China is relatively low, and there is still significant room for improvement in the consumption environment, product supply, and tourism experience. To this end, it is necessary to create a modern, fashionable, humanistic, and green national tourism image, increase the promotion of shopping tourism brand routes, improve the internationalization policy of inbound tourism convenience, cultivate professional operators of shopping tourism and well-known tourism retail brands, make shopping an important part of inbound tourism expenses and cultural experiences, and inject strong momentum into the construction of a tourism powerhouse. 【 Keywords 】 Tourism powerhouse, inbound tourism, shopping and shopping in China 【 Classification number 】 F591 【 Document identification code 】 A. Currently, China's inbound tourism is facing a strategic opportunity period of intensive policy dividends, continuous improvement of commercial system, and enhancement of market entities' quality and efficiency. The 2026 government work report proposes to optimize the inbound consumption environment and create the "Buy in China" brand. The outline of the "15th Five Year Plan" emphasizes: "Deepen the shaping of tourism through culture and highlight culture through tourism, and promote the construction of a strong tourism country." "Strengthen the comprehensive supervision and safety management of the tourism market, improve the tourism consumption experience. Implement the inbound tourism promotion plan, and enhance the international level of inbound tourism convenience." ① Release the potential of inbound tourism consumption, solve the bottlenecks, bottlenecks, and difficulties of inbound tourism shopping, coordinate the promotion of tourism shopping and shopping tourism, and create the "Buy in China" brand. This is the essence of the integrated development of culture, business and tourism, and also an effective support for the construction of a strong tourism country. Promoting the conversion of market traffic for "China tourism" into consumption increment for "China purchases" has become an important issue in building a strong tourism country, improving the modern tourism industry system, and serving the overall situation of the country's opening up to the outside world. Shopping is an important part of international tourism consumption and local cultural experience. Tourism is never just about looking at mountains, water, and scenery, but about experiencing the beauty of nature, culture, and living in a foreign land during the journey. A tourist destination is the sum of living environments, including duty-free shops, tax refund shops, factory stores, buyer's shops, boutique stores, discount stores, shopping centers, and commercial reception systems in urban commercial districts. Shopping is an important component of the international tourism consumption structure and plays a significant role in the cultural experience of the destination. International tourist cities such as Paris, Seoul, Tokyo, New York, Singapore, and Hong Kong all cultivate shopping as an important attraction. According to estimates from the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) and Oxford Economics, global tourism retail revenue reached $178 billion in 2019. From a global perspective, shopping expenditure accounts for a significant proportion of the total inbound tourism expenditure, becoming a key indicator for measuring a country's level of tourism internationalization and consumer attractiveness. From the perspective of the consumption structure of international tourists, about one-third of their consumption is spent on shopping. In 2025, the shopping expenses of inbound tourists visiting Hong Kong will account for 36.3% of the total expenditure, which is 1.3 times that of accommodation, 5.5 times that of entertainment, and 181.5 times that of sightseeing. Among them, the shopping expenses of mainland Chinese tourists will account for 40.6% of the total expenditure. ② Countries and regions with developed tourism industries always prioritize improving the shopping experience of inbound tourists and make every effort to increase their shopping consumption for inbound tourism. From duty-free shops, tax refund shops, discount stores (outlets) to shopping centers, specialty stores, convenience stores, factory stores, experience stores, first store economy, and the emerging "guzi economy" and experience economy in recent years, the constantly iterating commercial forms meet the diversified, personalized, and high-quality needs of tourists for price discounts, local experiences, and service quality. Fifth Avenue in New York, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, Champs - É lys é es in Paris, Ginza in Tokyo, Myeongdong Shopping Street in Seoul, and Orchard Road in Singapore are all essential and even preferred consumption destinations for international tourists. Global duty-free operators represented by Dufry AG, Lotte Duty Free, The Shilla Duty Free, and Duty Free Americas, as well as brands such as Bicester Shopping Village, have built a global tourism supply chain and retail network through precise market positioning and comprehensive matching services. Behind the above-mentioned business districts and duty-free operators is the effective collaboration of commercial, tourism, financial, customs, and logistics systems, as well as precise insights into tourists' psychology and full chain service guarantees. Galeries Lafayette and Paris Spring not only provide multilingual shopping guide services, but also cooperate with tourism departments and travel agencies to incorporate shopping into tourism route design, providing a comprehensive experience of cultural tourism integration, business travel symbiosis, and complementary formats. Shopping is not only an important part of tourism consumption, but also a key indicator for enhancing the competitiveness and cultural influence of the international tourism market. To adapt to the changing demands of contemporary international tourism and shopping, more businesses are shifting from simple product sales to experiential marketing and cultural implantation. By creating immersive shopping scenarios, providing personalized customized services, and integrating local cultural elements, they are continuously enhancing their attractiveness to international tourists. With the market innovation of private institutions such as commerce, industry, and tourism, and the joint efforts of public sectors such as culture, art, and heritage protection, shopping spaces are increasingly becoming a new scene for carrying new consumption and cultural experiences. From traditional handicraft workshops to modern cultural and creative markets, from historical and cultural districts to art shopping centers, rich and distinctive shopping spaces and consumption scenes continue to emerge. International tourist cities are building a new space for the integration of culture, business, and tourism, where guests and guests share a beautiful life. During the process of selecting goods and enjoying services, tourists can immerse themselves in the local cultural atmosphere, folk customs, aesthetic interests, and lifestyle. The continuous injection of cultural connotations has enabled shopping and tourism to break away from simple consumption behavior and become an important carrier of cross-cultural communication. Whether it's buying handmade leather shoes in Italy, watches in Swiss factory stores, or buying red wine and customized fashion in France, consumption has surpassed the product itself and is more like a cultural journey of experiencing traditional craftsmanship. When tourism shopping shifts from purchasing goods to experiencing culture, developing shopping tourism and expanding the shopping consumption of inbound tourists has become an important choice for countries around the world to vigorously develop the tourism industry. Outbound tourists' overseas shopping consumption remains high, which is an important factor contributing to China's tourism service trade deficit. From 2016 to 2019, the proportion of shopping expenses spent by Chinese citizens traveling to Japan was around 50%. Although it decreased slightly from 2023 to 2024, it remained at around 40%. ③ In recent years, outbound tourism consumption has shifted from early "walking and buying" to rational consumption. Tourists are no longer satisfied with traditional shopping and scenic spot check-in, but instead pursue experiences with more cultural connotations and social attributes. They prefer high-quality outbound tourism products such as small group customization, flexible services, excellent experience, and low risk, and their shopping lists have also undergone significant changes. In Paris, France, tourists used to prefer luxury brand bags, cosmetics, or red wine. Now, the shopping list shows more independent designer clothes, market cultural toys, Macaron gift boxes, niche perfume and handicrafts. Shopping presents a shift from "what brand to buy" and "what's cheap to buy" to "what's worth buying", from hoarding consumption to functional and experiential consumption, and from brand orientation to cultural experience. Despite changes in consumption structure, shopping remains an important item for outbound tourism expenses. According to a sampling survey conducted by the Outbound Tourism Research Group of the China Tourism Research Institute, in 2024, about 20% of outbound tourists believe that shopping is their main purpose for outbound tourism. ④ In order to adapt to the changes in the consumption behavior and consumption structure of Chinese outbound tourists, overseas destinations provide targeted Chinese shopping guides, launch UnionPay cards, WeChat, Alipay and other online payments, carry out holiday promotions and discounts, and increase marketing efforts for luxury goods, high-end goods and luxury brands. The shopping consumption of inbound tourists is shifting from "whether they have it" to "whether they want it or not". The 1980s was the "golden decade" of inbound tourism shopping in China, where tourists were willing to buy and spend. Commodities such as calligraphy, paintings, antiques, silk, and various souvenirs carry traditional Chinese culture and craftsmanship, satisfying inbound tourists' imagination of traditional China. The main tourist shopping scenarios are friendship stores, cultural relic stores, arts and crafts stores, and antique markets that support foreign exchange coupon payments. The sales of goods account for 34% of tourism foreign exchange income. In 1980, the foreign exchange income from selling tourism products in Shanghai reached 64.47 million yuan, accounting for about 50% of the total income. The per capita shopping consumption amount was 302 yuan, which was 6.86 times the average monthly salary income of Shanghai employees (44 yuan) in the current period. In 1985, commercial, craft, cultural relics, and park foreign exchange coupons in key tourist cities were almost the entire source of foreign exchange receipts for tourism enterprises. In 1987, there were 586 enterprises in Xi'an that produced tourism products, with over 3000 varieties and more than 10000 colors. The international tourism foreign exchange income was 167 million yuan, equivalent to 1.83 times the total export trade during the same period. ⑤ In the 1990s, China's inbound tourism entered a stage of normalized development, and the focus of shopping shifted towards industrialized products and daily consumer goods. The proportion of shopping consumption in tourism foreign exchange income fell to 20% -30%. According to the sampling survey data of inbound tourists, from 1999 to 2001, the top three tourism products that Chinese tourists were interested in were clothing/silk, food/tea, and souvenirs/handicrafts. However, the traditional supply model has not kept pace with the transformation of tourism consumption demand, resulting in a steady decline in tourism shopping demand and actual expenses. The shopping scene for inbound tourists has shifted towards airport duty-free shops, as well as urban shopping scenes such as Xiushui Street, Hongqiao Market, Beijing Gongmei Building, Beijing Enamel Factory, Ancient Culture Street, and Shanghai Tea City. Due to the lack of quality and brand recognition of Chinese made products, the proportion of tourism shopping in foreign exchange earnings has shown a fluctuating downward trend, dropping below 10% for the first time in 2010. With the development of outbound tourism, airport and port duty-free shops have gradually become the main battlefield for outbound tourists to purchase international brands. However, there are almost no Chinese made products, old brand stores, and exhibition booths available for inbound tourists. Since 2012, with the growth of China's economy and the rise of its manufacturing industry, the situation has improved somewhat. However, the business models of the supply chain, value chain, and consumption chain of tourism shopping have not fully adapted to the changes in the international tourism shopping market, leading to inbound tourists being unable to buy what they want and unwilling to buy what they can. In recent years, with the continuous release of visa, immigration, port and consumer payment facilitation policies, China's inbound tourism market has ushered in a new cycle of prosperous development. By 2025, it will receive 154.5 million inbound tourists, including 35.17 million foreigners; There were 30.08 million visa free foreign visitors, a year-on-year increase of 49.5%. International tourism revenue reached 131.1 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 39.2%. ⑥ The policy dividends have been intensively released, and the visa free "friend circle" continues to expand. The sales revenue of departure tax refunds has increased by 95.9% year-on-year. The consumer categories have expanded from traditional luxury goods to domestic cultural and creative industries, intangible cultural heritage and related fields. During the Spring Festival in 2026, the number of foreign tourists entering the country reached 1.313 million, a year-on-year increase of 21.8%. The footprint of foreign tourists covers 107 cities across the country, and western cities such as Lanzhou and Hohhot have achieved significant growth in inbound tourism. The Spring Festival, a traditional cultural festival, has become a globally shared tourism event. Inbound tourism is transitioning from "check-in sightseeing" to "Becoming Chinese" as a deep experience. Shopping, as an important component of daily life, has become the main way for foreign tourists to deeply experience Chinese style life. Although the 'gateway' for inbound tourism has been opened, the 'second gateway' issue of tourism consumption remains prominent. From the overall consumption of inbound tourists, the proportion of shopping consumption by inbound tourists in China is still at a low level. According to a sampling survey conducted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the shopping expenses of inbound overnight tourists in China in 2025 will account for approximately 19.0% of the total expenditure. The coordination of taxation, finance, customs, logistics, and tourism policies needs to be improved. The problem of departmental segmentation and policy fragmentation still exists, which to some extent suppresses the willingness of inbound tourists to travel and shop. The departure tax rebate has not yet formed a scale effect due to the small base, and the policy dividends have not been fully converted into consumption increment, resulting in a blocked channel for the conversion from "China tourism" to "China shopping". There are shortcomings in the consumption environment, and the number of duty-free shops in the city is limited. At present, only a few cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Dalian have duty-free shops within their cities, and the spatial layout still needs to be optimized. The coverage of foreign payments is insufficient, and foreign tourists often face payment difficulties in small and medium-sized cities and tourist attractions. Some merchants still do not accept foreign bank cards, and mobile payments have usage barriers for foreign tourists. The departure tax refund process is cumbersome, and tourists need to queue up at the airport to handle the tax refund procedures, which affects their experience. The multilingual service level of shopping venues in various regions needs to be improved. Except for first tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, most commercial venues in cities lack multilingual signage and shopping guidance services. Some small hotels and homestays have insufficient reception capacity for foreign tourists, and even have the phenomenon of politely refusing reception. The obvious homogenization of commodity supply reflects the insufficient supply of high-quality domestic products and electronic products made in China. The brand influence of technology companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and DJI has not yet been fully transformed into tourism and shopping advantages. The openness of foreign-related industrial tourism and rural tourism is not high, the experience is poor, factories and shops are basically blank, and tourists find it difficult to stimulate shopping and consumption willingness and generate cultural experience during the visit to the production process. The international adaptability of intangible cultural heritage and cultural and creative products is insufficient, making it difficult to match the diverse, personalized, and high-quality consumption needs of overseas tourists in packaging design, product description, cultural interpretation, and other aspects. The shopping experience and professional service level need to be improved, and there is a shortage of international sales talents with multilingual and cross-cultural communication skills. The goal and task of building the "Buy in China" brand is based on "Made in China" and "China Services". It is necessary to face the goal of building a strong tourism country and create a group of influential and powerful tourism shopping brands, making shopping an important part of inbound tourism consumption and cultural experience. Improve the construction of a procurement and distribution system that is in line with international standards, and cultivate several globally renowned tourism shopping spaces and tourism retail brands. Duty free operators represented by China Duty Free (CDF) have become among the top in the world, and their sales will remain in the top tier of the global duty-free industry by 2025. However, their brand matrix and network layout need to be improved. The exclusive stores of technology companies such as Huawei, DJI, and Xiaomi are not only sales venues, but also windows showcasing China's intelligent manufacturing. It is recommended to include them in the inbound tourism recommendation system to let foreign tourists know about the latest achievements of China's scientific and technological innovation. Beijing Xiushui Street, Hongqiao Market, Shanghai Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road, Shenzhen Huaqiangbei, Chengdu Kuanzhai Alley and other shopping districts, Hangzhou Silk City, Jingdezhen Ceramic Market and other professional markets, as well as Zhejiang Yiwu Small Commodity City and Shandong Caoxian Hanfu Industrial Base, all have unique attractions and have the conditions to become internationally influential shopping and tourism destinations. Relying on the pedestrian commercial streets such as Nanjing Road in Shanghai, Wangfujing in Beijing, Jianghan Road in Wuhan, Monument to the people's Liberation in Chongqing, Shangxiajiu in Guangzhou, Central Street in Harbin, Confucius Temple in Nanjing, Xi'an Datang Never Night City, as well as the well-known business districts in Beijing CBD, Nanjing Xinjiekou, Shanghai Xiaolujiazui Zhangyang Road, Tianhe Road in Guangzhou the Pearl River New City, Chunxi Road in Chengdu, Futian CBD in Shenzhen, as well as the performance and cultural innovation space in various places, we will promote the systematic construction of tourism and leisure cities, blocks and stores with Chinese characteristics, and form a support system for inbound tourism and shopping destinations with distinct levels and complementary characteristics. Expand tourism shopping, develop shopping tourism, and promote the conversion of "China Tour" traffic into "China Purchase" traffic. Clear quantitative goals should be set, including indicators such as shopping expenses and their proportion, sales of Chinese made goods and their proportion, and other indicators, which should be included in the indicator system for building a strong tourism country and regularly monitored and evaluated. Under the promotion of consumer convenience policies, China's tourism shopping has achieved certain results. In the first half of 2025, the sales revenue of Shenzhen's outbound tax refund products increased by 1.6 times year-on-year, and the volume of processed business increased by 3.9 times year-on-year. The proportion of Shenzhen's domestic trendy products such as DJI and Huawei reached 34.5%. ⑩ Compared with the goal of building a strong tourism country, the scale, product structure, and cultural characteristics of inbound tourism shopping still need to be further improved. From a global perspective, the image of shopping and tourism destinations in China is relatively weak, and the popularity and influence of tourism and shopping still need to be further strengthened. We need to develop a special plan for shopping tourism and a plan to promote tourism shopping, striving to make the proportion of shopping expenses of inbound tourists in China reach the world average level by 2030 and the average level of developed tourism countries by 2035, making shopping tourism an effective path and strong support for the construction of a strong tourism country. Enhance the level of internationalization and further improve the facilitation and internationalization policies for inbound tourism. Shopping requires specific commercial spaces and cultural scenes, international infrastructure, public cultural and leisure facilities as the basic support, especially a professional, efficient and convenient commercial service system. The system breaks down unreasonable restrictions in the field of inbound tourism consumption, unleashes the consumption potential of cultural tourism, sports events, health and wellness travel, RV self driving and other fields, cultivates new tourism brands such as "Travel China", "Self driving China" and "Off road China", echoes with "Buy in China", and forms a new consumption ecology that integrates multiple formats and supports multiple scenarios. Create a group of highly recognizable, highly driving, and widely influential first stop cities for inbound tourism, international tourism hub cities, key tourism cities, characteristic tourism villages and towns, and tourism consumption centers. By leveraging the transportation advantages and synergies of the Greater Bay Area, Yangtze River Delta, Beijing Tianjin Hebei, Chengdu Chongqing Twin Cities, and the Yangtze River Midstream Urban Agglomeration, as well as the demonstration and leading role of cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an, and Guilin, we aim to build a number of tourism consumption center cities with international influence. We will focus on the two major topics of humanistic economics and new quality productivity, and cultivate a group of new cultural spaces and tourism scenes, such as cultural and creative parks, art districts, theme parks, etc., to provide inbound tourists with richer choices and higher quality experiences. Suggestions for building the "Buy in China" brand: Create a modern, fashionable, humanistic, and green national tourism image, and increase international tourism promotion efforts for quality shopping themed routes and brand products. The shopping willingness and consumption ability of international tourists are closely related to the economic and social development level of the destination country and its globally leading cultural creativity. China not only has traditional tourism resources such as scenic spots, national parks, nature reserves, cultural heritage, and intangible cultural heritage, but also has super projects such as the Beijing Shanghai high-speed railway, G318 national highway, Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge, Tianshan Tunnel, Three Gorges Dam, and new energy power generation, as well as large scientific facilities such as the "Eye of Heaven" and "Artificial Sun", and new tourism resources such as environmental protection projects such as grid sand control and Taklamakan Desert border locking. It vividly demonstrates the new achievements made in the fields of industry, agriculture, science and technology, education, culture, commerce, logistics and other fields in the process of Chinese path to modernization, and is a powerful support for shaping the image of modern China, enhancing product trust and consumer willingness. We should not only promote China's unique natural resources, long history, and splendid culture to the outside world, but also make good use of each other