China sees inbound family tourism boom in summer holiday

China's diverse tourism offerings and visitor-friendly policies have attracted an increased number of overseas tourists during the summer holiday.

As of now, China's 240-hour visa-free transit policy applies to 55 countries, while nationals of 47 countries are eligible for unilateral visa-free entry.

Traveling to China with family members and friends has become a new trend in inbound tourism this summer, with Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing and Chengdu ranking among the top five inbound tourist destinations.

Meanwhile, favorable policies, particularly the optimized departure tax refund policy, have spurred "China shopping" boom.

"Data of the summer vacation shows it's a new global trend to travel to China. In addition to traditional major source countries, tourists from European countries, countries along the Belt and Road and countries in the Global South are more willing to travel to China, taking it as their top choice for travel destinations. More and more tourists are willing to go to fields, leisure scenes and historical and cultural blocks to experience the good life of contemporary China in all aspects," said Dai Bin, head of the China Tourism Academy.

China unveiled a new set of measures on April 27 to further optimize its departure tax refund policy to improve the shopping experience of overseas travelers.

The minimum purchase threshold for departure tax refunds has been lowered, allowing overseas travelers to apply for a refund if they spend no less than 200 yuan (about 27.75 U.S. dollars) at the same store on the same day and meet other relevant requirements, according to a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce and five other government departments.

While ensuring proper risk management, refunds will be made available through multiple channels, including mobile payments, bank cards and cash, to better accommodate the diverse payment preferences of overseas travelers. The upper limit for cash refund has been raised to 20,000 yuan.

China sees inbound family tourism boom in summer holiday

A Japanese lawmaker has raised concerns over Japan's push to expand its military and its nuclear policy.

Responding to some politicians' dangerous tendency towards possessing nuclear weapons, Takara Sachika, a member of Japan's House of Councilors, said that Japan's push to strengthen its military, combined with what she called a misguided nuclear policy, not only heightens regional tensions but also directly threatens regional security.

"I think this is completely unacceptable. Japan is a country that has suffered atomic bombings and is one of the nations most aware of the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Yet such a country is openly discussing the issue of possessing nuclear weapons and even attempting to revise the principle of not allowing the introduction of nuclear weapons, one of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. This is an extremely serious problem," Takara said.

Takara said the Japanese government's tendency to expand its military capabilities is completely contrary to the Constitution.

"From the perspective of Japan's Constitution, Japan should never have adopted a policy of ensuring security by strengthening military capabilities. Yet today, enormous effort is being poured into military expansion, and that in itself is a serious problem," said the lawmaker.

At a Diet meeting in early November 2025, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that what she described as the Chinese central authorities' "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, and suggested the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait, drawing strong criticism worldwide.

Takara urged Takaichi to retract her erroneous remarks as soon as possible.

"I think there is a very big problem with making such remarks that provoke other countries. It is necessary to thoroughly examine the facts as soon as possible and withdraw the relevant remarks," she said.

Japanese lawmaker criticizes nuclear weapons remarks as threat to regional security