9 Departments Jointly Promote Travel Services Exports; Inbound Consumption Receives Major Favorable Policies

AI · How policies can unlock new growth in inbound consumption under service trade deficits

Recently, to promote the export of travel services and expand inbound consumption, the Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments issued the “Policy Measures to Promote Travel Service Exports and Expand Inbound Consumption” (referred to as the “Policy Measures”). These measures propose 16 specific policies across seven areas: expanding inbound tourism consumption, facilitating inbound business activities, activating inbound sports event consumption, prospering inbound entertainment consumption, expanding inbound health consumption, developing inbound education and training consumption, and improving support measures. Experts interviewed believe that targeted policy efforts are expected to further boost service exports, stimulate the inbound consumption market, and create new opportunities for service consumption.

Regarding the background of the “Policy Measures,” a person in charge of the Service Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce stated that travel services—including tourism, studying abroad, medical treatment, etc.—are China’s largest service trade sector, accounting for over a quarter of total service trade import and export volume. However, it is also the sector with the largest service trade deficit. Inbound consumption is an important part of service exports and a key growth point for service consumption. In recent years, China has continuously promoted visa facilitation, international payment, service standardization, and other initiatives, introduced outbound tax refund policies, and optimized the international consumption environment, significantly increasing the attractiveness of inbound consumption.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, by 2025, the number of inbound foreign tourists is expected to reach 35.17 million, a 30.5% increase over 2024. Inbound tourists’ spending on food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, entertainment, and other categories counts toward China’s travel service exports. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the export scale is projected to reach 393.98 billion yuan in 2025, a 49.5% year-on-year increase, 1.6 times that of 2019.

Zheng Wei, deputy researcher at the China Service Outsourcing Research Center, told the “Economic Information Daily” that although China’s travel service exports are growing rapidly, the service trade still has a deficit, with travel services showing a particularly significant deficit. The core goal of this policy is to further expand travel service exports and attract more overseas tourists to China, thereby reducing the service trade deficit and promoting a healthy, balanced development of China’s service trade.

Zheng Wei further analyzed that currently, countries are actively expanding inbound tourism and competing for international visitors. China’s market is on the rise and has become a popular choice for international tourists. “It is very timely for China to introduce these policies now, which will help seize the opportunities of the global market’s recovery,” he said.

The policy covers all inbound scenarios, enriching the supply of quality services. The “Policy Measures” focus on different inbound purposes and consumption needs, emphasizing tourism shopping, business exhibitions, sports viewing and performances, health consumption, and education and training. It proposes measures to increase high-quality service supply and also introduces new initiatives to promote integrated development, such as “sports + tourism” packages, expanding entertainment and cultural tourism integration, supporting the creation of “international entertainment consumption zones,” and building international medical tourism brands, to better meet diverse consumer demands.

At the same time, the policy emphasizes building a comprehensive promotion system to unblock bottlenecks in inbound consumption. It proposes creating national tourism brands, strengthening global targeted marketing, and continuously improving visa policies to make China more attractive to international travelers. It also aims to streamline the entire process of inbound consumption—covering payment, tax refunds, telecommunications, sightseeing, and ticketing—by implementing a series of facilitation measures, enhancing the overall experience of “traveling and shopping in China.”

Zheng Wei explained that the core of these measures is to make it easier for tourists to experience “Travel in China” and “Shop in China.” The policies focus on leveraging and integrating China’s rich cultural and historical resources, traditional Chinese medicine, natural scenery, and other distinctive elements to attract overseas visitors. By launching integrated formats like “sports +,” “performances +,” and creating international medical tourism brands, they aim to diversify and enrich high-quality travel experiences, increasing China’s appeal from the supply side. On the other hand, the policies aim to smooth out the entire inbound consumption process—covering visa facilitation, currency exchange, telecommunications, tax refunds, and more—eliminating barriers in entry, spending, payment, and communication, to make “Shop in China” more seamless.

Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Research Institute, previously told reporters that the development trend of inbound tourism is moving from “Travel in China” to “Shop in China” and then to experiencing the good life in China. The implementation of duty-free, tax refund policies, and payment facilitation has greatly promoted the branding of “Shopping in China.”

It is noteworthy that the “Policy Measures” clearly state the need to strengthen inter-departmental coordination, optimize statistics on inbound travel development, promote data sharing across regions, enhance data monitoring and feedback, and improve digital services for inbound personnel. It also encourages localities to provide necessary infrastructure support for inbound consumption based on actual conditions, actively creating an internationally attractive consumer environment.

Zheng Wei pointed out that inbound consumption involves multiple fields such as entry-exit management, finance, culture and tourism, and telecommunications. Coordinated efforts across departments will help systematically improve facilitation levels and ensure effective policy implementation. In the future, these policies are expected to boost China’s service exports, reduce service trade deficits, and inject new momentum into cultivating the “China Service” brand. (Reporter: Wang Wenbo)

Source: Economic Information Daily