People take a night tour at the Confucius Temple Resort in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu province, Jan. 8, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Fang Dongxu)China, the most promising consumption market in the world, is seeing a dramatic rise in the culture and tourism sector as the Chinese New Year, the most important festival of the year for Chinese people, approaches.The demand for cultural and tourism products is increasing at an accelerated rate, boosting confidence in the recovery of the industry and guiding its innovative development."There are more and more visitors coming to Sanya. I received three batches of tourists this morning alone," said Wang Yu, who works in the tourism industry in Sanya, south China's Hainan province.According to statistics released by Sanya Phoenix International Airport, the airport handled 929,000 passengers in the first 15 days of January this year, up 15.3 percent year on year.A report on tourism consumption during the 2023 Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, issued by Tongcheng Travel, a market leader in China's online travel industry, said there has been a significant rise in traveling demand during the Chinese New Year period this year, especially for medium- and long-distance trips.The Spring Festival travel rush officially started on Jan. 7. The number of ticket orders received by Tongcheng Travel for trains departing on the Chinese New Year's Eve and a day before surged 31 percent from a year ago, ranking first in the past three years. Between Jan.1 and 8, the consultation volume for long-distance travel products scheduled for the Spring Festival vacation increased nearly 20-fold. Besides, the search volume for hot destinations, such as Xishuangbanna, Changbai Mountain, Sanya, and Xiamen, more than doubled from a year ago.Tourists pose for pictures at a miaohui, literally a temple gathering or temple fair, in Xiangyang, central China's Hubei province, Jan. 18, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Yang Dong)The per-customer transaction of travel products scheduled for the Spring Festival period has increased by over 70 percent from a year ago, and the numbers of hotel and tourist site ticket bookings have increased by nearly 20 percent, said Alibaba's travel portal Feizhu. There is also a significant rise in the distance and duration of trips as well as the number of travel companions, according to Feizhu. Besides, the bookings for high-end hotels also improved by nearly 30 percent, and those for rural B&Bs increased by over 100 percent.Li Donghan, owner of a B&B hotel in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan province, told People's Daily that all rooms had already been booked for the Spring Festival period. The man has cooperated with local farmers to sell local specialties and artware at his B&B."There are around 7,000 B&B hotels in Dali. A large portion of the rooms have been booked for the period from now to the Spring Festival vacation, and the figure is over 90 percent in some high-end B&B hotels," said Li Haizhong, head of the homestay association of Dali.In a theater near the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Lintong district, Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province, a show about the renowned Terracotta Warriors is chased after nowadays.Qiao Lida, who manages affairs for the show, told People's Daily that the show was first staged at the end of 2022 and has played to a full house almost every time. "To meet the demand for tourists, we'll for the first time keep playing the show during the Spring Festival," Qiao said.Yachts sail on sea in Sanya, south China's Hainan province, Jan. 13, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Ye Longbin)The demand for culture and tourism consumption in China is upgrading thanks to the accelerated integration of the culture and tourism sectors and the constant development of the market. Market entities on the supply side are closely following the new trend of the consumption upgrading to offer new and higher-quality products and services that better meet the demand of tourists."I never thought that I could visit the Weishan Lake tourist site for free," said Li Xu, a university student from Jining, east China's Shandong province. The tourist site offered 10,000 free tickets for university students returning to the city during the winter vacation, and is staging a series of splendid activities such as fireworks shows and lantern fairs.Local authorities across China have rolled out policies to support the recovery and expansion of culture and tourism consumption.Shanxi province's culture and tourism department recently unveiled a list of tourist sites that offer ticket discounts ranging from 20 percent to 90 percent. A total of 106 sites were on the list.The tourism authorities in southwest China's Guizhou province said tourists visiting the province between Dec. 16, 2022 and Feb. 28, 2023 can enjoy free tickets of tourist attractions, as well as 50 percent discounts on expressway tolls and hotel expenses.An official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said new policies will be launched to further relieve tourism enterprises' burden, boost the tourism industry, and promote consumption, so as to vitalize the industry's confidence and make it more energetic. 編輯：王?
China's newly released economic data presented the country's strong economic resilience and vitality to the international society.The world believes that China sees bright prospects for its high-quality economic development and will keep injecting strong momentum into the global recovery.Global media outlets reported that China's 2022 economic growth was beyond expectation and that the country has shown prospects of robust growth. It is believed that the largest force driving global growth will be China.Yachts sail on the sea in Sanya, south China's Hainan province, Jan. 13, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Ye Longbin)According to statistics released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Jan. 17, China's economy increased 3 percent year on year to a record high of 121 trillion yuan (about trillion) in 2022, after its successive breakthroughs of 100 trillion yuan and 110 trillion yuan in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The growth was faster than most of the major economies in the world.The continuous rising in both the total and per capita GDP of China indicates the country's progress in comprehensive national strength, social productivity, international influence and people's livelihood. The country enjoys a more solid foundation, higher quality and stronger momentum of its development.China is a country with more than 1.4 billion people, where new industrialization and urbanization are advancing continuously. It boasts a super-large market that enjoys the world's strongest potential, which is a powerful engine driving its economic recovery.According to statistics, China's retail sales of consumer goods stood at around 44 trillion yuan last year. In particular, online retail sales of physical goods reached nearly 12 trillion yuan. China is the world's second-largest consumption market and largest online retail market that enjoys obvious advantages in its super-large scale.As China enters a new phase of COVID-19 response and implements relevant policies, its economic and social vitality will be further released.International organizations and investment institutions are optimistic about China's economic prospects and have lifted their forecast for the country's economic growth in 2023.Financial Times noted that a resurgence in China's pent-up consumer and investment activity will support global demand.People visit a lantern fair in Yuncheng, north China's Shanxi province, Jan. 17, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Yan Xin)China is not only seeing a rise in its economic volume, but also an improvement in economic quality.Since the last year, the country has made economic stability its top priority and pursued progress while ensuring stability. Its new development philosophy enjoys strong support and its steps of high-quality development are firm and forceful.The added value of high-tech manufacturing enterprises above the designated size increased by 7.4 percent in 2022, 3.8 percentage points higher than that of all enterprises above the designated size.Investment in the high-tech manufacturing and high-tech service sectors went up by 22.2 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively. In particular, investment in electronic and communication equipment manufacturing surged by nearly 30 percent. New growth drivers show a leading role in economic growth.The latest World Intellectual Property Indicators report suggests that China ranks first globally in terms of the number of valid invention patents. This proves that China enjoys huge potential for high-quality economic development and will provide new opportunities for cooperation for the world.China seeks to improve development quality through the expansion of high-level opening up, which is valuable especially when economic globalization is facing headwinds.Tourists visit an ancient town in Xichang, Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan province, Jan. 18, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Li Jieyi)The country is steadily advancing opening up with institutional guarantees in the areas of management, standards, rules and norms, and protecting property rights and intellectual property rights in accordance with the law, so as to build a market-oriented and world-class business environment governed by a sound legal framework.According to recent statistics released by the General Administration of Customs, China's foreign trade in goods reached 42.07 trillion yuan last year. The size, quality and efficiency of the sector all improved, making China the world's largest trader in goods for six years in a row.The Ministry of Commerce said on Jan.18 that the foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 6.3 percent year on year to 1.23 trillion yuan in 2022.According to a survey recently launched by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, which involved over 160 foreign enterprises in China and foreign chambers of commerce, 99.4 percent of the respondents said they were more confident in China's economic prospects in 2023 and 98.7 percent would maintain and expand their investment in China.China will continue to be a promising land for global investment against uncertainties in the global market.The Chinese economy enjoys strong resilience, potential and vitality. The fundamentals sustaining its long-term growth remain unchanged. The high-quality economic development of China will surely provide new opportunities for the rest of the world. 編輯：王瑜
