News & Updates

WTTC Predicts China Will Overtake US as World's Largest Tourism Economy by 2030

The World Travel & Tourism Council has issued its most definitive forecast yet: China is on track to overtake the United States as the world's largest tourism economy within three to four years. The projection, backed by data from WTTC and its research partner Chase Travel (JPMorgan Chase), marks a turning point in global tourism economics—and the numbers explain why.

Foreign Tourists Flock to China's Small Cities as Datong Sees 735% Surge

Something remarkable is happening in China's inbound tourism: international visitors are no longer content with Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. They're heading deeper — into Datong, Zhangjiajie, Nanning, Dali — and the numbers are staggering.

"China Travel" Goes Viral: 35 Million Foreign Visitors Spent $131 Billion in 2025

What started as a social media hashtag has become a full-blown tourism revolution. "China Travel" — the catch-all term for the surge of international visitors exploring China — has transformed from an online buzzword into real foot traffic at ports nationwide.

China Travel Boom Continues: Q1 2026 Foreign Entries Hit 21.33 Million, Up 22.3%

The "China Travel" phenomenon that captivated global social media throughout 2024 and 2025 is not slowing down. New data from China's National Immigration Administration confirms that inbound tourism momentum remains powerful in 2026 — Q1 foreign entries reached 21.333 million, a 22.3% year-on-year increase, with visa-free arrivals accounting for a staggering 77.9% of all foreign visitors.

"Becoming Chinese" Sweeps Global Social Media: How a Cup of Hot Water Unlocked Billions in Consumer Spending

News Category

Viral & Trends

Executive Summary

Chinese American creator Sherry Zhu's "Becoming Chinese" series has gone viral on TikTok, inspiring millions of global users to adopt Chinese daily lifestyle routines, from drinking hot water and wearing slippers to avoiding raw vegetables in winter, brewing goji berry tea, and practicing tai chi.

Beyond Beijing and Shanghai: Inbound Tourism Surges in China's Second-Tier Cities

The map of China's inbound tourism is being redrawn. While Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou remain the foundation of foreign arrivals, a powerful "going west, going deep" trend is pushing international visitors into cities that rarely appeared on any foreign itinerary just two years ago.

Foreign Tourists Are Falling in Love with China's Small Cities: May Day 2026 Data Shows 735% Surge

The Great Shift: From Megacities to Hidden Gems

Something remarkable is happening in China's inbound tourism: the center of gravity is shifting from the traditional "Big Three" (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou) to cities most foreigners had never heard of five years ago.

China's Inbound Tourism Surges 9.9%, Doubling Global Average in 2026

China's tourism economy is outpacing the world by a wide margin. According to the latest data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), China's tourism economy grew at 9.9% year-on-year in 2025–2026 — more than double the global average of 4.1%.

Foreign Tourists Go Viral Exploring China's Hidden Gems Beyond the Great Wall

A Russian soccer fan traveling to Jiangsu province to watch the "Su Super League"—an amateur competition—then joining locals for morning Baduanjin exercises. A Vietnamese first-time visitor spending her evenings exploring night markets in the border city of Dongxing, Guangxi, sampling street food and sharing clips with thousands of followers back home.

From Sightseeing to Immersion: How 'Chinamaxxing' Is Rewriting Inbound Travel

On May 10, TikTok travel blogger Christian Grossi posted a video about his China trip. He did not point his camera at the Great Wall or the Forbidden City. Instead, he filmed himself at a rural guesthouse in Guilin—mountains and water in the background, a cup of unexpectedly good coffee in hand.

From 'China Travel' to 'China Shopping': Buying Spree Becomes the New Inbound Tourism Engine

A quiet revolution is underway in China's inbound tourism market. Foreign visitors are no longer coming just to see the Great Wall or the Terracotta Warriors—they are coming to shop. And the data suggests "China Shopping" is rapidly becoming as significant an economic force as "China Travel."

Online travel platform data shows inbound tour orders surged 173 percent year-on-year ahead of the 2026 May Day h

China Visa-Free Entries Hit 436,000 During May Day Holiday 2026

China's visa-free policies continued to drive a surge in inbound tourism during the 2026 May Day holiday, with 436,000 foreign nationals entering the country through visa-free channels — a 14.7% increase from the same period last year, according to data released by the National Immigration Administration on May 6.

China Visa-Free Policy Covers 50+ Countries Through 2026 as Q1 Entries Surge 29.3%

China's ambitious visa-free entry program continues to reshape inbound tourism in 2026, with unilateral visa-free access now extended to citizens of over 50 countries through the end of the year. The latest data from the National Immigration Administration confirms that the policy is delivering extraordinary results — 8.315 million foreign visitors entered China visa-free in Q1 2026 alone, a 29.3% year-on-year inc

China Launches Tax Refund 2.0 Policy With 8 Measures to Boost Inbound Shopping

On May 18, 2026, China's Ministry of Commerce, together with the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration, and three other central departments, officially released the "Notice on Stepping Up Optimization of Departure Tax Refund Measures to Expand Inbound Consumption" — widely dubbed Tax Refund 2.0.