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36th Naadam festival opens in Inner Mongolia

China

36th Naadam festival opens in Inner Mongolia
China

China

36th Naadam festival opens in Inner Mongolia

2026-07-19 20:27 Last Updated At:20:37

The 36th Tourism Naadam Festival kicked off in the Xilin Gol League of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Saturday, blending traditional nomadic sports with modern tourism to boost the region's summer economy.

Naadam, usually held in mid-summer and sometimes in winter in pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia, means "games" in the Mongolian language.

It often comprises wrestling, archery, and horse racing, also known as the "Three Games of Men."

This year's event features these classic competitive events alongside cultural heritage experiences, folklore activities, and grassland cuisine.

To encourage deeper visitor engagement, organizers have also introduced interactive programs including a tourist triathlon, a youth Naadam, and family activities.

"We happened to catch the Naadam festival, and we came all the way from Dalian. We want to watch the horse racing and wrestling matches," said a tourist surnamed Teng.

Since 2024, the latest three editions of the Naadam festival have collectively received over six million tourist visits, generating 4.1 billion yuan (about 605 million U.S. dollars) in tourism revenue, with overall visitor numbers and consumption showing steady year-on-year growth.

The core event runs from Saturday to Monday while related activities will go on until late August.

"The three-day Naadam festival is expected attract about 600,000 tourists to the league, up 20 percent from the previous year, which will boost Xilin Gol's summer economy. The Naadam festival itself is a massive cultural and tourism IP. Traveling for the Naadam festival drives spending across the services of accommodation, dining, transport, shopping, and entertainment," said He Mingjian, director of the bureau of culture, sports, tourism, radio, film and television of the Xilin Gol League.

36th Naadam festival opens in Inner Mongolia

36th Naadam festival opens in Inner Mongolia

Foreign investment utilized by national economic and technological development zones (ETDZs) accounted for nearly a quarter of the country's total in 2025, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce in Xiamen City, east China's Fujian Province, on Wednesday.

The report was released at the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade underway in Xiamen.

In 2025, the total amount of actual foreign investment utilized by national ETDZs reached 25.6 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 24.5 percent of the nation's total, it said.

As key platforms for China's opening-up, national ETDZs are undergoing a transformation: rather than simply competing on preferential policies, they are now focusing on new quality productive forces, building high-quality industrial ecosystems tailored to local conditions and prioritizing sectors such as advanced manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals and robotics.

At an investment promotion and matching event during the fair, representatives from national ETDZs across the country engaged in face-to-face exchanges with corporate representatives regarding industrial development needs.

"Companies used to focus on land and government policy subsidies. Now, more businesses pay attention to local supporting industrial chains, the open application scenarios in our market and the development of our overall financial ecosystem including funds and financial institutions," said Yang Jie, member of the Party Working Committee and director of the Investment Promotion Bureau of Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone in Jiangsu Province.

China's ETDZs attract quarter of nation's total foreign investment in 2025: report

China's ETDZs attract quarter of nation's total foreign investment in 2025: report

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