Cross-border travel by Chinese tourists surged during the country’s recent Golden Week holiday, with Alipay data pointing to evolving payment behaviour and the emergence of new high-growth destinations.
The most popular destinations for outbound Chinese tourist spending via Alipay between October 1 and 3 were Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. A secondary wave of tourism saw rapid growth in visitor spending in long-haul and niche markets, with Greece, Laos, Nepal, Portugal, and Turkey seeing the fastest growth in Alipay spending.
During the holiday, half of all outbound Chinese tourists used Alipay to complete purchases overseas, with top spending categories including clothing, groceries, jewellery, dining, and cosmetics.
Digital acceleration in China and health priorities
The increase in tourism also underscored the growing adoption of digital payment solutions by international travellers visiting China. Alipay recorded a 500% increase in payments from international travellers using Alipay Tap! between October 1 and 5. Alipay Tap! is an innovative QR code-based contactless payment solution that allows visitors to pay by scanning or tapping with linked overseas cards.
This inbound growth is being supported by improved visa-free policies and enhanced tourist services. For instance, popular cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are upgrading instant tax refund services for international tourists, with Shenzhen alone seeing a 70% increase in tax refunds processed via Alipay by international travellers in the first five days of the holiday. International visitors in China can now link an international credit or debit card to Alipay and pay by tapping or scanning QR codes, with visitors from 12 countries and regions also able to pay using their home e-wallets through Alipay+.
Health also remains a critical concern for Chinese travellers. A joint report by Alipay, navigation platform Amap, and the AI healthcare app AQ noted that health consultations by outbound Chinese tourists via AQ rose 32% compared to the previous month. The most common issues cited by users included diarrhoea, fever, and acclimatisation problems. AQ, developed by Ant Group, provides over 100 AI-powered services such as doctor search, health consultations, and medical report interpretation.
