Published on: 2026-09-18
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal recently published an article noting that tourism is becoming an increasingly significant driver of growth for the Chinese economy. Amid the steady expansion of domestic tourism and the rapid development of inbound tourism, China is moving more actively towards the status of a “tourism power.”
The article emphasizes that China has rich and diverse tourist resources—from natural landscapes to modern metropolises—which attract increasing numbers of both domestic and foreign tourists. According to the 15th five-year plan, the formation of a “tourism power” has become one of the key directions for the country’s future development.
Referencing a Morgan Stanley forecast, the publication reports that by 2030, the share of income from tourism and related industries in China’s GDP will grow from 4.8% in 2024 to 6.7%, and the size of the tourism market will increase from approximately 1 trillion US dollars in 2025 to 1.8 trillion dollars.
Particular attention is drawn to the rapid growth of inbound tourism. In recent years, China has consistently expanded the scope of its visa-free regime, making travel to China more convenient for foreign tourists. According to the National Immigration Administration of the PRC, in the first half of 2026, the number of foreign entries into China reached nearly 23 million, which is 20% higher compared to the same period last year; moreover, more than three quarters of those who entered used the visa-free regime.
The visa-free entry policy encourages more and more foreign tourists to include China in their itineraries. Among them is the German tourist Isabel Heitzmann. Visiting China for the first time, she visited Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, and Xianggang, and was deeply impressed by the Chinese cuisine as well as the diverse attractions — from Shanghai skyscrapers to the natural beauty of Yangshuo.
The growth of inbound tourism is already noticeable in popular tourist destinations in China. For example, at one resort hotel in Yangshuo (Guilin), foreign tourists accounted for 37% of the total guests in the first seven months of this year – compared to 21% for the same period last year.
At the same time, China’s domestic tourism market remains enormous in scale. In the first half of 2026, residents of China made about 3.5 billion domestic trips – 5.4% more than during the same period the previous year. Tourism is increasingly becoming a part of the everyday life of Chinese families.
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