Economic Watch: Holiday spending soars as record-long Spring Festival fuels economic vitality

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- From bustling ski slopes in Heilongjiang Province in China's far northeast to booming duty-free shopping in south China's Hainan Province, the country's record-long Spring Festival holiday saw a surge in travel, retail activity and tech-powered consumption, underscoring the country's economic vitality and growing global appeal.

TRAVEL BOOM

At the Zhuhai highway port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China, a floral market was in full swing, with rows of vibrant fresh flowers greeting holiday travelers.

"Buying a few flowers to decorate the home symbolizes prosperity in the year ahead," said a visitor surnamed Ho, who drove to this port from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The nine-day Spring Festival holiday, the longest on record, spurred strong travel demand. Latest data from the Ministry of Transport showed that cross-regional passenger traffic during the holiday rose 8.2 percent year on year to top 2.8 billion trips, underlining the scale of China's annual travel rush, often described as the world's largest human migration.

Cross-border travel also picked up during this period. In the first six days of the holiday, outbound travel spending surged in popular destinations, with offline transactions via WeChat Pay in Malaysia and the Maldives soaring 131 percent and 186 percent, respectively, compared with the same period last year, according to data released by WeChat.

At the same time, China implemented a series of measures to facilitate inbound travel. Starting from Feb. 17, the first day of the Chinese New Year, China extended its visa-free policy to ordinary passport holders from Canada and Britain, bringing the total number of countries enjoying unilateral visa-free access to 50.

Authorities also enhanced digital services for overseas visitors and expanded the network of departure tax refund stores to 13,000 nationwide, allowing foreign visitors to receive refunds directly at retail outlets rather than waiting until departure at airports.

Combined with these policies and social media promotion, celebrating the Spring Festival in China has become a growing trend among international tourists. At Universal Beijing Resort, Dutch visitor Finn Grunbauer picked up a horse-themed hat and a Spring Festival T-shirt. "The festive atmosphere here makes you want to take this warmth home," he said.

Reflecting the surge in international travel, the National Immigration Administration reported on Tuesday that average daily border crossings during this holiday stood at 1.98 million, up 10.1 percent year on year.

FESTIVE RUSH

Yabuli Ski Resort in Heilongjiang was bustling with activity during the holiday period, as skiers packed its winding slopes, embracing the thrill of winter sports in China's frozen northeast.

"This year, the buzz of the Winter Olympics has drawn noticeably larger crowds to ski resorts, with many people celebrating the New Year through sports," said Mao Bowen, a skier from Shanghai in east China.

Meanwhile, down in the far south, Hainan marked its first Spring Festival holiday since the launch of island-wide special customs operations under the free trade port framework. According to local customs, Hainan offshore duty-free sales totaled 2.72 billion yuan (about 392 million U.S. dollars) during the holiday, an increase of 30.8 percent year on year.

Across the country, broader consumption trends point to a recovery driven by services and experiential spending. During the first six days of the holiday, transactions for travel and lifestyle entertainment via WeChat Pay rose more than 20 percent compared with the same period last year.

Notably, AI-powered home appliances emerged as standout sellers, ranging from robot vacuum cleaners capable of obstacle avoidance and route planning to air conditioners featuring precision climate control.

"During the holiday, products integrating AI-based scenarios accounted for over 50 percent of new-product sales," said Meng Qingxiang, head of store management at retail giant Suning.com.

Zou Yunhan, a researcher with the State Information Center, noted that with China's per capita GDP approaching 14,000 U.S. dollars, consumption growth is expected to shift gradually from volume expansion toward quality upgrading.

New technologies, business formats and models are emerging at a faster pace, driving industrial upgrading and continuously unlocking the vast potential of the domestic market, Zou added. Enditem