Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
- China’s Dragon Boat Festival is expected to see a surge in short-haul and cultural tourism;
- Chinese premier pledges stronger strategic alignment with ASEAN and GCC for common development during the trilateral summit.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
As China's Dragon Boat Festival approaches, cities across the country are seeing a surge in short-haul trips and cultural activities tied to the holiday, a trend that industry insiders predict will intensify as the summer travel season gains momentum.
During this year's holidays from May 31 to June 2, travel within the "two-hour high-speed rail radius" and short-to-medium distance self-driving trips have become the mainstream choices for holidaymakers, according to travel platform Fliggy, with car rental bookings for the holidays have so far increased by 47 percent year-on-year.
Bookings for domestic short-haul travel during the holidays are up 23 percent year-on-year, according to another travel platform Trip.com.
As traditional Dragon Boat Festival culture gains traction, folk activities such as dragon boat racing are emerging as major draws for cultural and tourism spending during the forthcoming holidays, according to industry data.
As of Monday, bookings for holiday-themed tours featuring traditional activities like dragon boat racing and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) making had surged by 105 percent year-on-year, data from Fliggy showed.
As part of the ongoing consumption-boosting efforts, the Chinese government in late April launched a nationwide campaign to promote cultural and tourism consumption, featuring measures including festival-themed activities and locally tailored events.
Meanwhile, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Wednesday, China is expected to see 2.15 million daily border crossings on average during the 3-day holidays, marking a 12.2-percent increase compared to the same period last year,
Traffic at China's major international airports is projected to rise steadily, with Shanghai Pudong expected to lead with 100,000 daily crossings, followed by Guangzhou Baiyun at 48,000 and Beijing Capital at 46,000, according to the NIA.
As travel between Hong Kong, Macao, and the Chinese mainland continues to rise, the Dragon Boat Festival is expected to bring even greater volumes, to be boosted by a series of major events scheduled across Chinese provinces.
Asia-Pacific highlights
- Premier Li Qiang called on Tuesday for further deepening strategic alignment and expanding regional opening-up among China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council, in order to address new challenges and fully unleash the potential of open development. Addressing the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit, Li urged the three parties to build the related regions into a large shared market where resources, technologies and talent flow more efficiently, and trade and investment enjoy greater freedom and convenience. He also called on China, the ASEAN and the GCC countries to jointly forge an example in openness, development cooperation and cross-civilization integration. The summit, themed "Synergising Economic Opportunities Towards Shared Prosperity", was hosted by Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur as part of its 2025 ASEAN chairmanship.
- China will expand its visa-free entry policy for Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain to cover all GCC member countries. From June 9, 2025, to June 8, 2026, people from the four countries holding ordinary passports will be allowed to enter China visa-free and stay for up to 30 days, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday.
- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is looking to open new offices in Hong Kong and Singapore, according to people familiar with the matter, in a plan that would mark its biggest expansion since beginning operations in Beijing almost a decade ago. The multilateral lender, which had more than US$57 billion in assets at the end of last year, is currently negotiating with relevant parties in the cities to open the offices, the people said. The bank may announce the move at its annual meeting in June if it's finalized.
GBA express
- World's first self-propelled deep-sea aquaculture vessel with a pollution-free seawater exchange system was successfully launched in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province on Tuesday, marking the start of a new era of China's deep-sea aquaculture industry that integrates intelligent aquaculture practices with energy conservation, environmental protection, and a combination of fishery and tourism. The vessel named Bay Area Lingding boasts an aquaculture space of nearly 80,000 cubic meters, providing ample room for fish to swim freely, CCTV reported.
- The Ministry of Finance said Wednesday that it will issue a total of 68 billion yuan in renminbi-denominated treasury bonds in six batches in the Hong Kong SAR in 2025. The first two batches, totaling 25 billion yuan, were issued in February and April. The third batch of 12.5 billion yuan is scheduled to be issued via tender on June 4.
- A 62,000-ton multi-purpose pulp carrier, China Ocean Shipping Company's inaugural weekly service ship to BRICS countries in eastern South America, began operations at the Nansha Port in Guangzhou on Monday.
Industry and company news
- Profits of China's state-owned enterprises dropped 1.7 percent to 1.35 trillion yuan in the first four months of the year from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Finance. Their revenues stayed flat at 26.27 trillion yuan.
- Xiaomi's mobile phone shipments returned to rank first in the Chinese mainland in the first quarter for the first time in a decade, as its sales share of high-end smartphones reached 25 percent of the total, President Lu Weibing said yesterday. The average selling price of Xiaomi smartphones rose 5.8 percent to record 1,211 yuan from a year earlier.
- Pinduoduo plunged over 13 percent in New York yesterday after the Chinese e-commerce giant owner of Temu said its first-quarter net profit shrank 47 percent to 14.7 billion yuan from a year earlier. Revenue rose 10 percent to 95.7 billion yuan.
- The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, the world's busiest port in terms of cargo throughput, on Tuesday announced three initiatives it has undertaken with three major European ports -- Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven in Germany, and Valencia in Spain -- to construct green shipping corridors and advance low-carbon port cooperation between China and Europe.
- Chinese autonomous driving startup WeRide announced it has begun testing Robotaxis in Saudi Arabia, with trial operations to launch on Uber's platform soon and a full commercial rollout expected by late this year.
- Today marks the second anniversary of home-made C919 aircraft's commercial operation. The jets have moved over 2 million passengers in the two years, its maker COMAC said. The 18 planes delivered to Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines run 24 routes and connect 16 cities.
- Marriott International and Meituan today announced a partnership to introduce a joint membership program offering integrated “hotel + lifestyle” travel services. New members will receive a 388-yuan coupon that can be used on the platforms of both companies.
- Enlight Media said yesterday that the English-dubbed version of the Chinese animation blockbuster Ne Zha 2 is expected to hit North American cinemas this summer. A Japanese dub is also in the works and will have an extended run in Japan.
- Legoland Shanghai Resort announced it will begin selling one-day tickets and hotel packages at 8 p.m. today. For opening day, July 5, standard tickets are priced at 549 yuan, while children and senior tickets are 439 yuan.
Executive Editor: Sonia YU
Editor: LI Yanxia
Host: Stephanie LI
Writer: Stephanie LI
Sound Editor: Stephanie LI
Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni
Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.
Presented by SFC
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