HK, Tokyo, Seoul the three hottest shopping destinations for Chinese tourists in 2018

[TaiShang]

HK, Tokyo, Seoul the three hottest shopping destinations for Chinese tourists in 2018

(People's Daily Online) 15:42, February 18, 2019

Hong Kong (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul ranked the top three hottest shopping destinations for Chinese tourists in 2018, said a big data report issued by China’s travel services provider Ctrip.

In 2018, nearly 150 million overseas trips were made by Chinese tourists, during which time they spent a total of over $120 billion.

London, Paris and Macau were the cities that saw the highest per capita consumption stemming from Chinese tourists, followed by Dubai, Okinawa, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Hong Kong, Singapore and Fukuoka. The per capita maximum consumption of Chinese citizens in a single transaction in London even exceeded 30,000 yuan ($4,428).

It’s understandable that London and Paris ranked at the top, as Europe is still a hot destination for Chinese luxury goods buyers. The prices of these products in Europe are much lower than the global average, and the tax refund also facilitated the sales.

Harrods, Selfridges & Co, Galeries Lafayette and the Printemps were all major shopping places for Chinese tourists, and more and more Chinese tourists are acquiring discount information from these department stores through online platforms.

Though the exchange rate of the pound kept rising in 2018, the UK still remained a hot destination for Chinese tourists, said Ctrip.

Experts noted that Chinese consumers would still be a focus of the global tourism competition in 2019, and many countries have upgraded their shopping facilities to lure Chinese tourists.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2019/0218/c90000-9547296.html

 

[Nilgiri]

What's in the shopping of these places (And cheaper/better/available etc) that isn't already in China? Does China tax these goods high + restrict inside China....and not charge/restrict the same when bringing them in via customs?

@GeraltofRivia @serenity @Genesis

 

[TaiShang]

Chinese mainland remains as top contributing market for visitor arrivals to Singapore

(Xinhua) 09:36, February 14, 2019


SINGAPORE, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Singapore Tourism Board announced on Wednesday that the Chinese mainland was Singapore's No.1 visitor arrival source market for the second year running in 2018.

The authority said in a media release that visitor arrivals from the Chinese mainland reached 3.42 million last year, growing by 6 percent year-on-year.

In a breakdown, visitors from the first-tier cities of the Chinese mainland was 1.3 million, up 4 percent year-on-year and those from the second-tier cities was 1 million, up 6 percent year-on-year.

The authority also said the visitor arrivals to Singapore increased 6.2 percent to 18.5 million in 2018.

Singapore's top 10 visitor arrival markets were the Chinese mainland, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the United States, South Korea and Vietnam for 2018, it added.

 

[Genesis]

What's in the shopping of these places (And cheaper/better/available etc) that isn't already in China? Does China tax these goods high + restrict inside China....and not charge/restrict the same when bringing them in via customs?

@GeraltofRivia @serenity @Genesis

Chinese luxury tax is ridiculously high. China's income tax and business tax isn't that high compared to developed countries, and it's law on what is and isn't considered a capital gain is very different and in some ways purposely vague so tax on luxury goods is a key for government expenditure.

Though based on what I have seen India also has this tax as does many other developing SEA nations, maybe I am wrong, but I know for a fact Pakistan and India has some crazy prices on exotic vehicles.

 

[Nilgiri]

Chinese luxury tax is ridiculously high. China's income tax and business tax isn't that high compared to developed countries, and it's law on what is and isn't considered a capital gain is very different and in some ways purposely vague so tax on luxury goods is a key for government expenditure.

Though based on what I have seen India also has this tax as does many other developing SEA nations, maybe I am wrong, but I know for a fact Pakistan and India has some crazy prices on exotic vehicles.

Yeah its just weird that China doesn't tax same way on exactly same thing you simply bring in from other places.... Is there a high duty free limit for Chinese citizens when they come through customs?

If so, essentially people can bypass the luxury taxes at home....just need to commit travel and time to it I suppose.

 

[Genesis]

Yeah its just weird that China doesn't tax same way on exactly same thing you simply bring in from other places.... Is there a high duty free limit for Chinese citizens when they come through customs?

If so, essentially people can bypass the luxury taxes at home....just need to commit travel and time to it I suppose.

China does tax them or is suppose to anyways. China also has a limit, but is rarely enforced. Canadian laws are enforced to the nth degree no matter how minor, but Chinese laws can almost be ignored if you don't give people a reason to enforce it.

I once had to give up a bottle of expensive alcohol for my father at Canadian airport because I was under the age of 18 at the time. I seen security guards smoke under a no smoking sign in Beijing.

This is why Chinese people say there is a misconception of China's heavy handedness in China. Canadians think China enforces its laws the same way as Canada does to Canadians.

As a side note, purchasing Canadian goods in Canada by Chinese and ship to China is a major business in Canada. Canada wants to get tough with China, if China ever feels like going that way, Canada's luxury industry is going to crash in a second. Though just like trump's tariffs there are real reasons real politicians don't do things like that.

 

[serenity]

What's in the shopping of these places (And cheaper/better/available etc) that isn't already in China? Does China tax these goods high + restrict inside China....and not charge/restrict the same when bringing them in via customs?

@GeraltofRivia @serenity @Genesis

Tax is high. Same example European good will cost a Chinese person more to buy inside China than it is to buy in HK. Also the currency exchange is unfavorable to Chinese buyer. These are for non essential goods. But then even some goods for doing business is taxed so everyone is pushed to use local products. Just depends on the product and laws are not always followed even though there are laws and standards in theory. This method is all supposed to be used to allow the country to be flexible and progress quickly. So applied laws can be flexible and changed. But I think all this is like VAT and similar taxes on consumption. Most important factor for Chinese shopping overseas or in tax free place like HK is because these two reasons. Also more available products in one place. Not all Chinese live in big cities so many who travel from small cities or towns will shop the big brands in one place.