Five cities eye globally attractive consumption

Move among strenuous efforts to boost shopping, including by foreign tourists

Visitors check out vehicles during an auto show in Beijing. (DU JIANPO/FOR CHINA DAILY)

China will accelerate the transformation of five major cities — Shanghai; Beijing; Guangzhou, Guangdong province; Tianjin; and Chongqing — into global consumption centers on par with New York and London, and create globally attractive retail environments, as part of the country's latest moves to boost consumption.

The document, formulated by the Ministry of Commerce, said China aims to further expand domestic demand and promote high-standard opening-up.

The country will actively promote the debut economy by supporting high-quality domestic and foreign brands to launch new products and exhibitions, and providing Customs clearance convenience for new imported products.

The government will support the holding of events such as fashion weeks and car expos in these five cities. It will also work to attract high-quality global brands to launch their first stores, establish research and development design centers as well as regional headquarters, the document said.

It is critical to adapt to local conditions for developing the debut economy. Shanghai has been doing well in attracting debuts of global brands in China and launching pop-up stores, the ministry said.

In the recently delivered Government Work Report, boosting consumption was listed as a top priority among this year's tasks.

As part of measures to build global consumption centers, China plans to further expand its unilateral visa-free entry policy in an orderly manner, and better leverage the role of tax refund stores and tax refund policies by opening more such stores and optimizing tax refund procedures for overseas visitors.

Since late 2023, China has launched unilateral visa-free policies for multiple countries, encouraging more overseas travelers to visit the nation. Last year, the number of inbound foreign visitors in the above-mentioned five cities doubled the 2023 figures, said the National Immigration Administration.

"In those five cities, the number of tax refund stores for overseas visitors accounted for 60 percent in the country last year, and total sales made up for over 70 percent of the value nationwide," said Li Gang, director-general of the department of market operation and consumption promotion of the Ministry of Commerce, during a news conference earlier in Beijing.

Besides trendy products, foreign tourists have also favored domestic time-honored brands and specialty products. Tong Ren Tang, a venerable traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy, has seen a growing number of foreign visitors take advantage of tax refund procedures at its stores in the Qianmen area of Beijing, and the products they buy mainly include traditional Chinese patent medicines and medicinal materials.

Compared to overseas metropolises, there is still a gap between China and developed countries. The government will guide the building of a group of featured commercial complexes, and encourage sales of more domestic trendy products at tax refund stores, the ministry said.

In addition, China plans to organize various large-scale consumption promotion activities, support the hosting of more high-level international sporting events and performances, and increase the supply of high-quality services.

In late March, the 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix took place in Shanghai, attracting fans from home and abroad. The guideline noted that China plans to hold more motor racing events, foster new consumption scenarios such as recreational vehicle camping, and further expand the aftermarket consumption of automobiles.

Meanwhile, China will encourage the innovative growth of the cruise market and low-altitude tourism. The country will also promote the application of technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and big data in the consumption market, and accelerate the promotion of smart home appliances, new energy vehicles and other smart products, the document said.

In the first two months, total retail sales of consumer goods in China reached 8.37 trillion yuan ($1.15 trillion), up 4 percent year-on-year, with the growth rate 0.5 percentage point higher than the whole year figure last year, the ministry said.