China’s 2025 New Year holiday showcased a vibrant start to the year for the nation’s economy, with significant growth observed in tourism, consumer spending, and transportation sectors.
According to data released by the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Thursday, cross-border trips surged by 13.7 percent year on year, reaching over 1.8 million passenger trips during the holiday on Wednesday. Among these, Chinese mainland residents made 869,000 trips, marking an 11.1 percent increase from the previous year, while foreigners accounted for 185,000 trips, up by a substantial 33.6 percent.
Outbound tourism has continued its strong growth trajectory since 2023. Fliggy, a leading online travel platform, reported that as of the early morning of January 1, 2025, outbound tourism bookings had increased by nearly 70 percent year on year. With the relaxation of China’s visa-free policy, the period from December 31, 2024, to January 1, 2025, saw exponential growth in inbound tourism bookings. Orders from neighboring countries such as the Republic of Korea and Japan increased by 215 percent and 145 percent respectively on the Ctrip platform, as reported by The Paper.
In addition to the boost in travel, China’s domestic consumer market also experienced a surge. The New Year’s Day box office surpassed 3 billion yuan (approximately $411 million), according to box office data tracker Dengta. Leading the charts were films such as \ Reference(s): China's 2025 New Year holiday sees boost in spending, travel
