China records 5.3 billion domestic tourist trips in first nine months of 2026

Data from a survey of domestic travelers released by the ministry on Monday showed that domestic tourism expenditure reached 4.95 trillion yuan (around $737 billion) between January and September, up 2.2% from the same period last year.

Urban residents accounted for more than 4 billion trips, an increase of 6.6% year on year, while rural residents made 1.27 billion trips, representing growth of 5.1%.

In terms of spending, urban residents contributed 4.14 trillion yuan, up 2.2% from a year earlier. Rural residents spent 810 billion yuan, an increase of 2.1%.

China aims to increase annual domestic tourist trips to 8.3 billion and domestic tourism expenditure to 7.7 trillion yuan by 2030, according to the country's tourism development plan for 2026-2030, released by the MCT in July.

In 2025, China recorded more than 6.5 billion domestic tourist trips, while total tourism expenditure reached 6.3 trillion yuan. Both figures set new records, according to the data.

Earlier, it was reported China stepped up snow leopard protection as the population reached 5,000.