Photo: Xinhua
Chinese localities launched diverse initiatives to boost consumption during the ongoing May Day holiday by integrating local attractions with stimulus measures to further spur holiday spending and boost consumer vitality amid already strong demand.
China Railway said via its official WeChat account that the national railway system is expected to handle 18 million passenger trips on Saturday, with 1,563 additional trains deployed. From Wednesday to Friday, China’s railway passenger trips maintained over 10 percent year-on-year growth for three consecutive days, with Thursday alone reaching a record 23.119 million trips.
Jingdezhen in East China’s Jiangxi Province, which is known for its ceramics, has launched more than 100 cultural and tourism events since the first day of the holiday, making full use of local attractions, according to an official WeChat post on Friday.
A white-collar worker surnamed Wang who has been traveling to Jingdezhen and other scenic areas in Jiangxi from Anshan, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province during the holiday, told the Global Times that the city was crowded with visitors behaving in an orderly manner. She added that she had purchased local ceramic pieces as souvenirs.
In Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Harbin Ice-Snow World launched its first kite festival on Thursday, offering 1,000 free kites daily throughout the five-day holiday. Activities included intangible cultural heritage kite displays, parent-child sports events, and traditional cultural parades, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Searches for Heilongjiang during the May Day holiday on Meituan surged 500 percent year-on-year, with 54 percent from post-2000 consumers.
Immersive experiences are flourishing as regions across China integrate ecology, folk culture, and intangible cultural heritage with tourism, giving rise to new concepts like the “performance economy” and “digital nomads.” Meanwhile, technology-enhanced experiences, including artificial intelligence (AI) tour guides, augmented reality navigation systems, and driverless shuttle vehicles, have become widespread in scenic areas, enhancing their appeal to consumers during the holiday, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Saturday.
The first AI latte art coffee robot debuted at Xiangshan Scenic Area in Guilin, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the area also began deploying ice cream robots, according to local news outlet Guangxi Daily.
Moreover, cross-boundary tourism has become increasingly popular. Major border checkpoints connecting China’s Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong Province experienced a cross-boundary tourism surge on Friday, with the Zhuhai immigration inspection station recording 823,000 passenger trips – a 32 percent year-on-year increase and a new historical record, according to China Media Group on Saturday.
Besides bolstering local tourism, Chinese localities have also enhanced consumption stimulus as well as organized corresponding events, especially amid the country’s stepped-up efforts in expanding the domestic demand.
For instance, Sanya in South China’s Hainan Province is issuing and distributing dining and duty-free shopping vouchers during the May Day holiday, totaling 16 million yuan ($2.2 million).
Meanwhile, over 80 cities across the country are expected to hold nearly 100 auto shows of varying sizes during the holiday, according to preliminary data. Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is hosting 24 trade-in promotional events during the May Day holiday, with consumer goods trade-in subsidies totaling at least 40 million yuan, according to media reports.
In terms of cultural consumption, the box office for the holiday, including presales as of press time, reached 492 million yuan, according to data from China’s ticketing platform Dengta.
As the second quarter includes the Qingming festival holiday, the May Day holiday and the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, Wang expected that the holiday economy to play as an important role in driving quarterly economic growth.
Holiday consumption, through scenario innovation, policy coordination, and technology empowerment, has become a key engine of second-quarter economic growth, further promoting industrial development and employment, He noted.
