Shopping in China gains rising popularity among foreign visitors in Sept: MOFCOM

Shopping in China continued to grow in popularity among foreign travelers in September, as a combination of policies — including visa-free transit, convenient payment methods, and departure tax refunds — produced synergistic effects, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) stated on Monday.

In a post on its official website, the MOFCOM said that China's consumption market remained generally stable in September. Efforts to boost domestic consumption, promote consumer goods trade-ins, improve the quality of trade in services and stimulate spending by inbound tourists continued to unlock consumption potential.

In the first three quarters of the year, retail sales reached 36.59 trillion yuan ($5.14 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent — 1.0 percentage points higher than the full-year growth rate of 2024. Final consumption expenditure contributed 53.5 percent to economic growth during this period.

As travels to China become increasingly popular, shopping by visitors is showing steady growth, the ministry added.

According to data released by the National Immigration Administration on October 16, immigration authorities inspected 20.134 million foreign visitors in the third quarter of 2025, a year-on-year rise of 22.3 percent. Nearly 7.25 million entries were made by foreign nationals under China's special visa-free policies, up 48.3 percent year-on-year.

Song Ding, a research fellow at the China Development Institute, told the Global Times on Monday that the robust boom in "China Travel" and shopping in China came as the country systematically improved its tourism infrastructure in recent years and steadfastly promoted opening-up to foreign tourists with measures including visa facilitation.

"A great many foreign tourists are finding the price advantage of shopping in China, in addition to a full array of merchandise," Song said. "It is expected that the boom in the trade of services will continue to accelerate for the remaining months of this year and result in new records."

A report by People.com.cn on October 21 also highlighted the significant potential of inbound consumption. In 2024, spending by inbound tourists accounted for about 0.5 percent of China's GDP — well below the average of 1 percent to 3 percent seen in other major economies.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, total spending by inbound tourists in China reached $94.2 billion in 2024, up 77.8 percent year-on-year.

Large cities in China have been at the forefront of the boom in inbound tourism.

According to a bjd.com.cn report, citing an official of the Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, Beijing received 38.84 million inbound tourists in the first nine months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 42.9 percent, as a growing number of international visitors came to Beijing.

These visits generated tourism revenue of $5.02 billion, up 47.1 percent year-on-year.

From January 1 to September 29, Shanghai's tax refund program for overseas visitors experienced strong growth. Sales eligible for tax refunds for overseas travelers increased by 83.8 percent year-on-year, while the actual refund amount rose by 82.9 percent year-on-year, ranking first in China in terms of scale, according to a post on the website of the Shanghai Municipal Tax Service under the State Taxation Administration.

During the period, the sales amount processed through the "refund-upon-purchase" service surged by 21 times year-on-year. Shanghai has processed tax refunds for nearly 100,000 travelers from 179 countries and regions.

Data from payment service provider Alipay showed that during the first nine months of this year, foreign tourists' spending in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province and a major hub for trade, increased by 180 percent year-on-year, 21jingji.com reported on Sunday. Foreign visitors have been particularly interested in apparel, drones and smartphones, according to Alipay data.