China's cultural industrial sector revenue up 4.6 pct in H1

China's cultural and related industries recorded steady revenue growth in the first half of 2026, driven largely by emerging business formats, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday.

Revenue of large cultural enterprises, each with annual revenue from principal business reaching 20 million yuan or above, was 7.2026 trillion yuan (1.061trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, up 4.6 percent year on year, according to a survey of 82,000 such enterprises nationwide.

The 16 subsectors with notably distinctive new cultural business formats, including digital publishing and internet-based cultural entertainment platforms, generated 3.5239 trillion yuan in revenue, surging 9.6 percent year on year.

By industry, cultural manufacturing revenue edged down 0.4 percent year on year to 1.7851 trillion yuan, while wholesale and retail dipped 0.1 percent to 1.094 trillion yuan.

However, cultural services played a key supporting role. In the first half of the year, the cultural services sector generated 4.3235 trillion yuan in operating revenue, up 8.1 percent year on year.

Revenue from cultural services enterprises accounted for 60 percent of all large cultural enterprises of the kind, rising 1.9 percentage points from the same period last year. Among them, subsectors such as cultural investment and asset management, as well as cultural event services, achieved double-digit revenue growth.

China's cultural industrial sector revenue up 4.6 pct in H1

China's cultural industrial sector revenue up 4.6 pct in H1

China's border inspection authorities processed a total of 499 million inbound and outbound passenger trips in the first eight months of 2026, up 8.7 percent year on year, official data showed on Thursday.

Of the total, 242 million entries and exits were made by mainland residents, 196 million made by Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, and 61.287 million made by foreign nationals, up 10 percent, 8.9 percent and 19.5 percent year on year, respectively.

Among foreign nationals entering China, 23.72 million entered visa-free, accounting for 77.6 percent of all foreign entries and marking a 26.8 percent increase year on year.

Border authorities inspected 28.148 million trips by various means of transportation, up 15 percent year on year. This included 665,000 flight trips, 75,000 train trips, 306,000 ship journeys, and 27.102 million motor vehicle trips, up 0.5 percent, 5.6 percent, 4.1 percent and 15.6 percent over the same period of last year, respectively. In recent years, the National Immigration Administration has rolled out a series of measures to facilitate cross-border movement of people and support high-level opening-up and high-quality development. These measures have significantly shortened clearance times for both Chinese and foreign travelers and transportation vehicles, while continuously improving port clearance convenience.

China sees surge in cross-border passenger trips in first eight months