The Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development proposes to cultivate international consumption center cities and expand inbound consumption.

Driven by policies such as expanding visa free access and optimizing departure tax refunds, the popularity of "China Tour" and "China Purchase" continues to rise. Data shows that in 2024, the number of Chinese inbound tourists reached 131.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 60.8%; The total expenditure of inbound tourists was 94.2 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 77.8%.

Liu Xiangdong, Deputy Director of the Research and Information Department of the China International Economic Exchange Center, stated that cultivating international consumption center cities and expanding inbound consumption will promote the upgrading of domestic commerce, culture, and tourism, and help enhance the city's international reputation and influence. Meanwhile, from international experience, inbound consumption can stimulate domestic consumption and investment demand, injecting new impetus into economic growth.

In 2024, the proportion of inbound consumption by overseas tourists to China's GDP is about 0.5%, while the proportion of inbound consumption by major countries in the world is between 1% and 3% of GDP, indicating huge potential for growth in inbound consumption.

Liu Xiangdong suggested promoting the integration of duty-free shops, departure tax refund shops, and cultural and tourism resources, creating a "shopping+tourism" characteristic scene, and enhancing the attractiveness to inbound tourists. Set up duty-free shops in popular cities for inbound tourism and develop a multilingual duty-free shopping app to further enhance the convenience of foreign tourists' consumption.

Vice Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping stated that the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to expand the scope of unilateral visa free countries in an orderly manner, further optimize tax refund services, continue to deepen the construction of international consumption center cities, create a number of international consumption clusters and inbound consumption friendly business districts, continue to create diversified consumption scenarios, and organize the "Buy in China" series of activities.

We will strive to make it more convenient, comfortable, and affordable for global consumers to travel, and to experience a more open, inclusive, and innovative China, "said Sheng Qiuping.