People's Daily Overseas Edition: China benchmarks internationally renowned cities to create more attractive international consumption destinations - encouraging inbound consumption, investing in real money like this

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce recently issued a notice clarifying that about 15 pilot cities across the country will be selected to carry out the construction of an international consumption environment. The central government provides financial subsidies to pilot cities.
How to build an international consumption environment? Where should 'real gold and silver' be invested? The reporter conducted an interview.
Focus on details with precision drip irrigation
Which cities are mainly supported in building an international consumption environment? The existing international consumption center cities are key support targets.
In July 2021, the State Council approved the cultivation and construction of international consumption center cities in five cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Chongqing. From a practical perspective, these five cities, as international consumption centers, are already cities with strong consumption driving effects, great development potential, and a large number of overseas tourists.
In 2024, the proportion of inbound consumption by Chinese overseas tourists to GDP is about 0.5%, while the proportion of inbound consumption by major countries in the world is between 1% and 3% of GDP, indicating huge potential for inbound consumption. According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce, as of July this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods in five international consumption center cities accounted for more than 1/8 of the national total, the number of national demonstration pedestrian streets accounted for 1/4 of the national total, the number of Chinese time-honored brands accounted for about 1/3, the import of consumer goods accounted for more than half of the national total, and the sales of outbound tax refunds accounted for about 70% of the national total. Therefore, enhancing the potential for inbound consumption and creating an international consumption environment must start with international consumption center cities.
In addition, the pilot cities also include eligible international consumption center cities and other cities with strong consumption driving effects, great development potential, and a large number of overseas tourists. In terms of fund allocation, each international consumption center city will receive a total subsidy of 200 million yuan, while each other city will receive a total subsidy of 100 million yuan.
How to invest in real gold and silver? It is reported that "precision drip irrigation" is an important direction.
From the "Outline of Implementation Plan for International Consumption Environment Construction" and "Performance Target Table for International Consumption Environment Construction" released by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce, it can be seen that the "baton" refers to many "details".
Specifically, in terms of "enriching high-quality consumption supply", the number of international consumption clusters, inbound consumption friendly business districts, landmark consumption projects, etc. will be reasonably determined based on factors such as the functional positioning of key business districts and the visit of foreign visitors; In terms of optimizing foreign-related payment services, measures will be proposed to increase the coverage of foreign card POS machines in key locations for foreign-related personnel, add foreign currency exchange facilities, and promote merchant cash reserves; In terms of improving the level of international services, efforts will be made to improve multilingual signage in key locations, add convenient service facilities such as luggage storage, set up foreign personnel guidance service desks, carry out volunteer services in minority languages, and conduct international service training.
The quality of the international consumption environment lies in these details.
Wang Sisi, a tour guide who has been engaged in foreign-related business at a travel agency in Beijing for many years, told reporters, "Let's take luggage storage points as an example: Chinese tourists like to bring suitcases when traveling, and directly store them in hotel rooms or bus luggage compartments; foreign tourists prefer to be 'backpackers', carrying and storing them at any time. A young white couple, carrying two professional outdoor bags weighing tens of kilograms and half a person's height, with a baby stool hanging in front of them, dare to travel around the world, which is almost normal. So they especially need luggage storage points
High quality consumer supply, including entry friendly business districts, international consumption clusters, and landmark consumption projects, is also a target for targeted investment and investment in related funds.
Taking the entry friendly commercial district as an example, this type of commercial district refers to a city commercial area that has international service facilities, payment environment, language services, etc., and can provide convenient and comfortable consumption experience for overseas tourists. At present, many places in China have begun to build entry friendly commercial districts. In Sanya City, Hainan Province, where the inbound tourism industry is relatively developed, there are two sets of solutions: "external card binding" and "outsourcing internal use", allowing international tourists to enjoy the convenience of scanning QR codes for payment at small and large businesses in Sanya; The Sanya Municipal Bureau of Commerce also guided the two popular shopping malls, Sanya Joy City and Sanya Tianyue City, to upgrade their cross-border payment experience, becoming the first batch of "entry consumption friendly commercial districts" demonstration points in Sanya. Under the concept of "entry friendly", the business district can provide more surprises for overseas tourists by lowering the communication barrier for international tourists with multilingual guidance and providing consumption coupons for them.
Aim for shortcomings and make up for them
'What is lacking, what is being supplemented' is the 'key word' for building an international consumption environment.
What are the concerns of foreign nationals when consuming in China? Many foreigners are concerned about finding a foreign currency exchange point when they arrive in a new city and asking if there is a foreign card POS machine when they enter the store. A citizen walking their dog in the embassy district of Beijing in the early morning told reporters that they often encounter foreigners asking for directions, "asking if there is a currency exchange point nearby with a more cost-effective exchange rate, sometimes several times a week.
At present, many foreign tourists who come to China for tourism still rely on cash and credit cards for consumption, which is quite inconvenient in the Chinese consumption scene where mobile payments are the mainstream. Therefore, optimizing foreign-related payment services has become a necessary condition for an international consumption environment.
From the "baton" - "performance target table for international consumption environment construction", "the number of newly added external card POS machines (units)" and "the number of newly added foreign currency exchange points (units)" are two important performance targets for promoting the construction of an international consumption environment, examining the increase in the number of external card POS machines and foreign currency exchange points in key places such as commercial districts, tourist attractions, tourist leisure districts, hotels, restaurants, airports, and stations. Many places are also striving towards these two goals by optimizing foreign-related payment services.
Many foreign tourists who come to China enjoy watching "Cutting off the clouds and rain of Wushan, High Gorge emerging from Pinghu". In Yichang City, Hubei Province, with the continuous rise of inbound tourism, more and more foreign tourists are "checking in" to the Three Gorges. From January to August this year, Yichang received a total of 290000 inbound tourists and achieved international tourism revenue of 900 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33% and 35%. In order to facilitate tourists' travel and consumption in China, Yichang has launched multiple measures. Currently, more than 70 multilingual tourism signs have been installed on the main roads of the city, and over 260 external card POS machines have been installed throughout the city.
A good foreign-related payment system cannot do without the deployment of a sufficient number and wide coverage of foreign card POS machines, as well as reasonable and highly accessible foreign currency exchange points.
Nowadays, the phrase 'so close, so beautiful, weekend trip to Hebei' has not only deeply rooted in the hearts of the citizens of the capital, but also infected many foreign nationals working, traveling, and transiting in Beijing. Chongli Ice and Snow Tour, Shanhaiguan Great Wall Scenery... In recent years, Hebei Province has opened charter flights from countries such as South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong to Hebei, and established "tourist air buses" between key scenic spots inside and outside the province using civil aviation regional airports such as Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Qinhuangdao, and Handan. To promote the convenience of inbound tourism payments, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Hebei Province has partnered with the People's Bank of China Hebei Branch to deploy over 2000 external card POS machines, as well as over 110 ATMs and foreign currency exchange points in scenic spots, hotels, and other places, making payments for foreign nationals in Hebei more convenient and efficient.
Some commercial districts lack sufficient internationalization level, convenient facilities need to be further improved, and there are still shortcomings in multilingual services... In response to more practical problems, in addition to improving the coverage of external card POS machines, efforts will be made to build an international consumption environment through measures such as creating international consumption clusters, adding luggage storage points, and improving multilingual signage, in order to make up for the shortcomings and weaknesses, and break through the bottlenecks. Adhere to the principle of 'filling in what is lacking' and take problem-solving as the starting point and foothold for formulating work plans, "said the aforementioned person in charge.
The combination of old and new policy effectiveness
Previously, expanding inbound consumption has received many support measures. The two departments have proposed to build an international consumption environment. Where is the "new" font now?
The reporter found that in addition to focusing on the improvement of hardware facilities, relevant measures also highlight the construction of "soft environment": focusing on IP, digital, green, intelligent, China-Chic and other themes to create a diversified integrated consumption scene; By optimizing policies and improving facilities, we aim to provide consumers with a more convenient and comfortable consumption environment; By strengthening training, improving the work skills and service level of practitioners... focusing on innovative consumption scenarios, enhancing comprehensive service capabilities, and emphasizing capacity building, the pilot work will focus more on improving the "soft power" of inbound consumption.
From the perspective of the connection and coordination between old and new policies, the construction of an international consumption environment will also form a synergy with the cultivation of international consumption center cities through the "combination of old and new". Carrying out the construction of an international consumption environment is beneficial for pilot cities to benchmark against internationally renowned cities, gather high-quality global enterprises and goods and services, promote industrial transformation and upgrading, and create more attractive international consumption destinations. It is also conducive to creating a market-oriented, rule of law, and international first-class business environment, making the domestic market and international market better connected and mutually promoting, "said the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce.
Taking the example of "number of new departure tax refund shops (households)": this indicator is one of the six reference indicators under the category of "rich and high-quality consumption supply". Optimizing departure tax refund services and expanding the coverage of tax refund stores, five international consumption center cities are also leaders. It is reported that since the release of the "Notice on Further Optimizing the Exit Tax Refund Policy and Expanding Inbound Consumption" in April this year, the total number of tax refund stores in Beijing and Shanghai has exceeded 1400, and Guangzhou has exceeded 500, driving a 94.6% increase in the sales of exit tax refunds nationwide in the first half of the year.
Forming a synergy is also reflected in complementing and complementing each other, allowing high-quality local brands and internationally renowned brands to sing together. For example, in terms of international brands, five international consumer center cities have introduced 12000 domestic and foreign brands to their first stores in the past four years, attracting many internationally renowned brands to debut and showcase their products. The performance target table requires the cultivation of high-quality local brands, fully reflecting local cultural heritage, consumer characteristics, industrial advantages, with high fashion leadership and international influence.
The pilot work covers more than ten pilot cities and has a high degree of correlation with many existing investment and construction projects. How to do a good job in fund linkage and fully release policy effects?
The key is to ask for efficiency when spending money. The reporter noticed that the performance indicator system announced by the two departments this time was only for reference in the early stage when formulating implementation plans in various regions. However, in the later implementation process, the completion of indicators may have a significant impact on the allocation of funds.
For example, in the first year of the pilot program, the central government only allocated a portion of the funds. The Ministry of Finance requires pilot cities to strengthen the connection between project funding arrangements and central infrastructure investment and other central financial special funds, in order to avoid cross duplication. At the beginning of the second year of the pilot program, performance self-evaluation and third-party performance evaluation will be organized in pilot cities, and the evaluation results will be linked to subsequent funding arrangements to prevent the situation of "heavy declaration and light implementation".
Officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce stated that the pilot program will create a favorable consumption environment through a series of policy measures, further attract inbound consumption, expand high-level opening up to the outside world, and promote sustained economic recovery and improvement. The construction of an international consumption environment will attract more inbound consumption by supporting pilot cities to enrich high-quality supply and optimize the consumption environment, "said the person in charge.