ACNielsen released the latest survey jointly carried out by the company and the Tax Free World Association (TFWA).

The survey indicates that per capita overseas shopping budget of Chinese visitors averages US$987, the highest in the world. Hong Kong maintains the "shopping paradise" for Chinese mainland tourists.

The joint survey interviewed 1,500 consumers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou who had business or leisure tours to Hong Kong, Macao, Asian and European countries and regions in the past six months.

The number of Chinese traveling overseas hit 29 million last year, up 43 percent year-on-year. Chinese tourists' average single-trip budget was slightly second to that of Japanese, but their shopping budget accounted for one third of their total travel budget and ranked first in the world.

The survey indicates that almost 100 percent of Chinese visitors went shopping during their overseas tours and spent US$987 on average. Moreover, tourists to Europe spent even more in shopping, averaging US$1,781.

According to the survey, Chinese tourists are apt to spend their holidays in Asian countries and regions owing to geographical location and convenient traffic.

From 2000 to 2004, Hong Kong became the first choice of mainland visitors (76 percent), followed by other Asian countries and regions (61 percent), and Macao (48 percent). Over 70 percent of visitors claimed that shopping was the main purpose of their visits to Hong Kong.

(Chinanews.cn May 23, 2005)