Latest news with #NationalBureauofStatisticsofChina
CNBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
U.S. travelers are cutting back on summer Europe trips — but Chinese tourists are making up for it
U.S. tourists seem to be cutting back on summer trips to Europe — but Chinese travelers are more than making up for it, a study found. Data from the European Travel Commission (ETC) published Tuesday showed that just 33% of U.S. survey respondents were planning to visit Europe this summer, some 7% below the levels of last year. The decline appears to largely relate to funding, with 54% of those polled citing high travel costs as a barrier. But political concerns, including those around the perception of the U.S. abroad, also appear to be weighing on plans, the ETC said. "Travel sentiment is strongest among Americans from the Northeast (43% vs. 33% in the total sample), a region that typically leans Democratic and diverges politically from Trump," the organization noted. Popular European tourist destinations usually welcome millions of visitors from the U.S. each year. U.S. tourists in the U.K. in 2023 for example totaled a record 5.1 million, while U.S. visitors were among the top five countries bringing the most cash into the French economy last year. The decline in interest in a European summer isn't limited to U.S. travelers. Around 39% of total respondents to the ETC's survey said they were planning such a holiday in 2025, compared to 41% in 2024. Sentiment around European travel has also pulled back among travelers from Brazil, Canada and Japan. But interest in European summer trips shot up among Chinese travelers, with 72% of survey respondents from the country saying they were planning such a holiday — up 10% from the previous year. "The strong sentiment is supported by growing disposable incomes, favourable travel policies, and a consumer shift toward prioritising personal fulfilment and lifestyle experiences such as tourism," the ETC said. The National Bureau of Statistics of China earlier this year said that the nationwide per capita disposable income grew by more than 5% over the previous year in the first quarter of 2025. Domestically, concerns have nevertheless mounted over the resilience of the Chinese consumer: weak consumer demand drove prices lower recently, while retail sales growth slowed in April. Europe has long been a key destination for Chinese tourists, with many looking to buy luxury goods whilst away. This trend came to a screeching halt during the Covid-19 pandemic, but could be picking back up now. Over half of Chinese travelers now say that shopping is part of their European travel plans, according to the ETC data. Yet, the figures also suggest that travelers might be shifting their spending patterns, with Chinese tourists now especially likelier to tighten the belt. Just 29% of them are expecting to spend more than 200 euros ($229) a day, a 44% drop compared to last year. Instead, the majority of Chinese visitors is now looking to spend between 100 and 200 euros per day.
Epoch Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
China's Factory Activity Slumps as US Tariffs Take Effect
China's factory activity shrank more than expected in April following two months of recovery, a survey showed on Wednesday, suggesting the country's sprawling manufacturing industry is beginning to feel the impacts of the ongoing trade war with the United States. The country's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) declined to 49 in April versus 50.5 in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China ( The official NBS data showed that new export orders declined to 44.7, down from 49 in March; its lowest level—excluding the COVID-19 disruptions—since April 2012. The non-manufacturing PMI, which includes services and construction, also dropped from 50.8 to 50.4 in April but still hovered above the 50-mark that separates economic growth from contraction. It comes as official data reported that China's manufacturing activity experienced two successive months of expansion, with activity growing at its fastest pace in three months in The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has also pledged more fiscal stimulus, increased debt issuance, and promised further monetary easing in an effort to grant the world's second-largest economy some reprieve. Related Stories 4/29/2025 4/29/2025 Still, the latest data appears to show Trump's 145 percent tariffs on most China-origin goods—part of an ongoing effort from the U.S. administration to balance trade deficits and put pressure on the Chinese regime to curb China's export of fentanyl into the United States—are beginning to bite. Trump's tariffs come as China continues to battle with deflation due to sluggish income growth and a prolonged property crisis after the collapse of Evergrande. Beijing has retaliated with 125 percent levies on U.S. imports, effectively imposing a trade embargo on each other's goods. It has also placed export restrictions on rare-earth minerals that are critical for manufacturing high-tech items like weapons, semiconductors, and batteries. A separate private sector According to that survey, which beat analysts' expectations in the Reuters poll, China's manufacturing PMI fell to 50.4 in April from 51.2 in March. While it still remained above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction, it marked the lowest reading since January. 'Trade disruptions resulting from higher U.S. tariffs reportedly contributed to the first fall in new export orders for three months,' Caixin/S&P Global said in a statement. 'Weaker external demand dampened growth of overall new orders, which increased at the softest pace in seven months.' Dr. Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group, added that the ripple effect of the ongoing China-U.S. tariff standoff will gradually be felt in the second and third quarters. China's yuan inched lower against the dollar following the data's release on Wednesday. The International Monetary Fund, Goldman Sachs, and UBS have also recently revised down their economic growth forecasts for China over 2025 and into 2026, pointing to the impact of U.S. tariffs, with none of them expecting it to achieve its 5 percent economic growth target. Meanwhile, investor and China observer Kyle Bass 'You don't grow at 5.4 percent and have your bond market yields collapse into economic nuclear winter,' he said in a post on the social media platform X. Reuters contributed to this report.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China Insight: Can Fashion Brands Return to Growth During the Chinese New Year?
According to the annual consumption data for 2024 released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, in the past year Chinese consumers' consumption of nonessential categories such as footwear, clothing, textiles, cosmetics, skin care, gold, silver and jewelry has weakened significantly. Facing this reality, fashion brands are betting on the year-end peak shopping season to boost growth. In December and January, which span Christmas, New Year's Day and the Lunar New Year, will holiday marketing strategies of brands and pent-up demand lead to a boom through a two-way interaction? More from WWD Maye Musk Models at NYFW, Just Don't Ask Anything About Elon or Trump's Tariffs on China An Armani/Caffè Has Opened in Beijing China Experts Say Retail-tainment, Key Opinion Sales and a Focus on Culture Are Winning Strategies Despite the national subsidy policy for the trade-in of consumer goods, which aimed to stimulate consumption and achieved a significant rebound in the growth rate in December, the demand for fashion was less than ideal. Data shows that total retail sales of consumer goods in December reached $620 billion, up 3.7 percent year-on-year. However, among this, sales of footwear, apparel and textiles amounted to only $22.4 billion, down 0.3 percent year-on-year; sales of gold, silver and jewelry were $4.26 billion, down 1 percent year-on-year, and sales of cosmetics, although up 0.8 percent year-on-year, were only $4.75 billion. The sales of these three major fashion categories underperformed compared to the overall retail market. Against this backdrop, the 'Spring Festival economy' in January has undoubtedly become the focus for businesses to bet on growth. In 2024, when online retail was relatively active, China's online retail sales reached $2.13 trillion, up 7.2 percent year-on-year. Specifically, during the Spring Festival, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce, the previous round of the 'National Online New Year's Shopping Festival' concluded with sales of $170 billion, a nearly 9 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year, achieving a strong start for the year's online consumption. For this year, joining hands with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments, launched the 2025 Online New Year's Shopping Festival on Jan. 7. The current consumer stimulus strategies mainly focus on various types of discounts, promotions and the distribution of consumption vouchers. On the platform side, Taobao has returned to the Spring Festival Gala with a $343.9 million red packet campaign, becoming the exclusive e-commerce interaction platform for the Year of the Snake's gala, with users able to receive up to $260. Alipay's 'Collecting Blessings' campaign has changed its previous rules, introducing popular models among young people, such as collecting IP cards and blind boxes. Douyin has launched the 'Spring Festival Fair' offering traffic support and preferential policies for products with both price and quality advantages. In addition, platforms such as RedNote, Kuaishou and Bilibili have introduced new and unique activities for the Year of the Snake's Spring Festival. For brands, this year's Spring Festival is by no means just a golden period for achieving sales growth. In early December last year, China's submission of the project 'Spring Festival — The Social Practices of Chinese People Celebrating the Traditional New Year' was approved and inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Therefore, as the first Spring Festival following the successful inscription, it carries profound traditional cultural and emotional bonds among Chinese people, such as nostalgia and family reunions. This will also turn it into an opportunity for brands, which are good at cultural storytelling, to have in-depth communications with consumers. In addition, the increase in social activities and the concentrated demand for gift-giving during the Spring Festival have created an immense entry point for consumer traffic. Driven by both the 'Spring Festival economy' and the 'gift-giving economy,' this scenario is likely to trigger a new wave of social trends early in the New Year. Platforms have successively launched gift-giving features. Tencent has introduced the WeChat Store Gift Marketing Solution. This solution not only assists brands in building the infrastructure of their WeChat shops but also strategically deploys traffic touchpoints, empowering brands to achieve counter-cyclical growth within the Tencent ecosystem. Both Taobao and have also launched gift-giving features. However, while Taobao's feature covers almost the entire product pool, supports group gifting, allowing users to share gifts in groups and reciprocate after receiving a gift. Currently, several A-share listed companies, including S'Young Group, Luolai Life Home Textiles and RonShin Culture, have launched or tested the 'gift-giving' function on the WeChat Store. Beauty brands like Hansu have promoted the New Year gifting market through WeChat Moments ads, influencer endorsements and private domain marketing. High-end brands such as La Mer, Pop Mart and Li-Ning have curated gift-worthy products in dedicated sections. L'Oréal has combined contract-based advertising traffic with the gift-giving function to stimulate consumers' gift-giving needs. By focusing on this golden marketing period of the New Year, these brands have gained the upper hand in the Tencent ecosystem. The year 2024, marked by a significant slowdown in consumption growth, has come to an end. Boosting consumption and expanding domestic demand remain top priorities for the Chinese government in its economic agenda for 2025. Just one day after the Northern Chinese New Year's Eve — which fell on Jan. 22 this year— Wu Qing, the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, stated at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office that 'we cannot let important matters wait until the New Year.' On that day, A-shares across the board rose, but they fell back the next day. Brokerage firms estimated that hundreds of millions of dollars in funds flowed into the capital market this time. The liquidity, stability, and wealth effect brought about by this influx of funds could potentially inject vitality into the consumer market at the turn of the year. Whether it is the implementation of government policies or the increased efforts from business platforms and brands, this Spring Festival has become a crucial battleground for China's consumer market to stage a comeback in 2025. After all, the more diverse the strategy combinations, the stronger the market expectations, and the greater the impact of future performance on confidence. Editor's Note: China Insight is a monthly column from WWD's sister publication WWD China looking at trends in that all-important market. Best of WWD The Definitive Timeline for Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Sean John Fashion Brand: Lawsuits, Runway Shows and Who Owns It Now What the Highest-paid CEOs at U.S. Fashion and Retail Companies Make Confidence Holds Up, But How Much Can Consumers Take?
