Online travel searches for Cuba have skyrocketed after Cuba announced a visa-free policy for Chinese citizens in early May.
Direct flights are set to resume from Friday. The surge in tourists' interest showcased an optimistic outlook for personnel exchanges and economic vitality between China and Cuba, analysts said.
As of Thursday, online travel searches for Cuba were up nearly 10 times month-on-month, according to data that Fliggy, a China-based travel platform, sent to the Global Times on Thursday.
Searches for flight tickets from China to Cuba skyrocketed more than 30 times on a monthly basis.
As the summer vacation - from early July to early September - for Chinese students approaches, Fliggy expects a surge of Chinese tourists going to Cuba, marking the first peak since the visa exemption for Chinese citizens was announced on May 4.
Tickets for direct flights from Beijing, China's capital city to Havana, Cuba's capital city, are on sale on some Chinese travel platforms. Such tickets cost about 7,800 yuan ($1,080) on travel platform Qunar.
The flights, which open on Friday, will operate twice a week. They were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rise of Chinese tourists, with their increasing spending power, is expected to boost Cuba's economic development, Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday.
"Businesspeople will also utilize the direct air route for easier access to Cuba and even destinations in Latin American countries, which will further support economic and trade activities," Zhou said, adding that the resumption of the direct flight showcases the willingness for personnel exchanges between China and Cuba.
Cuba's economy has been under pressure for a long time, given the US economic sanctions and blockade on the movement of people, said Zhou.
The potential for increasing personnel exchanges and commercial cooperation between China and Cuba is huge, which will boost Cuba's economic development, Pan Deng, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Region Law Center of the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times on Thursday.
"More frequent travel and business visits by Chinese citizens can also be expanded to other Latin American countries if they also develop favorable visa policies for Chinese travelers and business personnel," said Pan.
Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong Province, has constructed 362 supercharging stations for new energy vehicles (NEVs) as of April 30, exceeding the number of traditional gas stations, according to the local development and reform commission. The number of charging ports in the city has also surpassed that of gas pumps, reflecting the positive trend in Shenzhen's NEV market development and the effective operation of its charging infrastructure.
The increase in the number of supercharging stations has notably boosted the charging efficiency of NEVs. Statistics from the Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau of China Southern Power Grid show that in the first quarter, Shenzhen saw a surge in NEV charging, reaching 670 million kilowatt-hours, marking a 10.9 percent year-on-year increase, indicating a thriving market for NEVs in Shenzhen.
For a household NEV, it usually takes 7 to 8 hours to fully charge using a standard charging pile, 1 to 2 hours using a fast charging pile, whereas with a supercharging pile, it can reach 80 percent or more in just 10 minutes or even less, enabling a "coffee break, fully charged and ready to go" scenario, significantly enhancing the charging experience.
On June 29, 2023, Shenzhen debuted its first fully liquid-cooled supercharging demonstration station and officially launched the "city of supercharging stations" initiative. At present, the supercharging service network has been preliminarily established across the city, with most stations leveraging existing public charging infrastructure and strategically situated in major commercial centers, bus terminals, industrial parks, and other key locations.
Under a plan for NEV supercharging facilities, Shenzhen aims to establish a globally cutting-edge infrastructure and versatile service system for supercharging facilities by the end of 2024. The plan also emphasizes advancing the interactive mechanism for electricity demand allocation, hastening coordination among enterprises, technologies, scenarios, and beyond.
Data shows that by the end of 2023, the number of NEVs in Shenzhen has surpassed 970,000, with NEVs constituting over 60 percent of new car sales. By the end of 2025, the scale of NEVs in Shenzhen is expected to reach 1.3 million units.
The final visiting session of the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was recently held in San Jose, capital of the Republic of Costa Rica. On the Russian side, the discussion was attended by Alexander Stuglev, CEO of the Roscongress Foundation, and Yuri Bedzhanyan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Costa Rica.
“The first country in Central America with which Russia established official contact was Costa Rica. This happened in 1872. Over more than 150 years of relations between the countries, a strong bond has been built up. Today our diplomatic and trade relations are full-fledged and at a high level. We see great prospects for the development of cooperation in the spheres of tourism, culture, investment and business,” noted Yuri Bedzhanyan.
The Costa Rican delegation included representatives of companies from the agricultural industry, digital technologies and tourism. More than 10 senior executives and managers took part in the SPIEF visiting session. The discussion touched on bilateral business relations between the countries and demonstrated the business development opportunities for Costa Rican entrepreneurs that SPIEF offers.
Alexander Stuglev commented: “We see a mutual interest in cooperation, the creation of partnerships and the development of international cooperation between our countries. That is why we are here today to tell you about the opportunities that SPIEF offers to Costa Rican businesses. Today, the forum is a bridge for creating new ties between entrepreneurs, it helps participants to find new partners and create interesting projects aimed at strengthening mutually beneficial relationships.”
Representatives of the Roscongress Foundation told the guests of the event in detail about the thematic areas of the forum and their formats, and then moved on to smaller scale negotiations.
The 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will take place on 5–8 June, 2024.
The Roscongress Foundation is a socially oriented non-financial development institution and major organizer of nationwide and international conventions; exhibitions; and business, public, youth, sporting, and cultural events. It was established in pursuance of a decision by the President of the Russian Federation.
Asian currencies have come under pressure from a strong US dollar in recent days, with the yen at one point hitting a 34-year low against the greenback. The development raised concerns about another Asian financial crisis, and the impact on Chinese yuan has become a topic of discussion.
Amid other Asian currencies' volatility against the dollar, the yuan's performance demonstrates relative stability. Since the start of the year, the US Dollar Index has risen by about 4 percent, while the yuan has weakened by about 2 percent against the dollar at offshore currency markets.
But still, the yuan has remained relatively stable against other non-dollar currencies. According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS), the CFETS yuan exchange rate composite index, which measures the yuan's strength relative to a basket of currencies, reached 100.43 as of end-April, a 3.09 percent increase from the beginning of the year.
Exchange rates usually reflect the economic fundamentals of each country. To a certain extent, it is the resilience of the Chinese economy, the country's effective monetary policy and investor confidence in China's economic prospects that have jointly offered a solid foundation for the yuan's exchange rate.
In 2023, the Chinese economy grew by 5.2 percent year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2024, the GDP saw an unexpected growth of 5.3 percent year-on-year, indicating a strong start to the year.
First-quarter fixed-asset investment was up 4.5 percent year-on-year, with high-tech sector investments rising 11.4 percent, meaning China's economy continues to gain momentum, coupled with improved growth quality.
China's total merchandise trade expanded by 5.7 percent year-on-year in yuan terms in the first four months this year, official customs data showed on Thursday. Exports rose by 4.9 percent, while imports climbed by 6.8 percent.
With China's very strong economic fundamentals, the yuan's relative weakness against the US dollar is unlikely to bring big shocks to the Chinese economy or the country's financial market.
The yuan has been buttressed by the market operations and policy guidance of China's central bank, for the purpose of fending off risks of possible exchange-rate volatility and keeping the yuan at a reasonable equilibrium level against other major currencies.
If anything, the yuan's recent performance in a volatile global currency market is the best proof that China can resort to effective policy tools to withstand external shocks and maintain the relative stability of the yuan.
The yuan's rate will still be subject to multiple factors, including the global economic recovery, changes in major economies' monetary policies and international geopolitical conditions.
However, the overall policy tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability in the financial sector, which could also suit the currency market, indicates that the yuan's exchange rate is expected to remain basically stable at a reasonable equilibrium level.
Maintaining the basic stability of the yuan represents stability, while the internationalization of the yuan represents progress. No matter how the external situation changes, it is believed that this general direction for the currency will not change.
The stability of the yuan's exchange rate not only reflects the steady development of the Chinese economy but also creates favorable conditions for its foreign trade and overall economic transformation and upgrading. With the steady growth of the Chinese economy and the gradual opening-up of the financial market, a relatively stable yuan is expected to continue to provide a strong support for the development of the Chinese economy.
As recent heavy rainfalls in South China’s Guangdong Province show no signs of stopping, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on Friday warned of another round of downpours set to affect the region as well as other parts of the country. Local traffic management departments have advised the public to be cautious of traffic accidents and landslides.
A blue alert for downpours was issued by the CMA, which said that the southern, eastern and central parts of the country will experience torrential rain from Friday morning to Saturday morning, as millions of people are about to embark on their return trip for the May Day holidays.
Among the affected areas, Central China’s Hunan, Southwest China’s Guizhou, and South China’s Guangxi may have intense rains up to 100-150 millimeters. Some regions are expected to experience a maximum hourly rainfall of 40-60 millimeters, or even exceeding 70 millimeters, accompanied by thunderstorms, strong winds and hail, according to the CMA.
Eyeing the May Day holiday travel rush and challenging weather conditions, traffic management departments across the country have optimized their deployment of personnel to ensure smooth traffic flow, and spared no effort to prevent safety hazards.
Considering the typical traffic patterns during the May Day holidays, a high volume of traffic for suburban outings and family visits is expected on Friday, leading to increased pressure on roads entering and exiting cities, suburban areas and tourist attractions.
The traffic management departments have also issued safety warnings reminding the public to avoid traveling on routes affected by adverse weather. In the event of heavy rainfall, people must be attentive to the surrounding environment to prevent accidents including rear-end collisions, rollovers, landslides and falling rocks.
A fatal landslide occurred in the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway in Guangdong in the early hours of Wednesday, the first day of the five-day May Day holidays when the most road travels across the country were made.
During a press conference, Meizhou authorities said that as of 3:30 pm on Thursday, the disaster had caused 48 deaths and 30 injuries.
It was the fifth official update on casualties since the landslide occurred, which saw the number of deaths and injuries rising from the initial 31 to 78.
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing led officials in charge of relevant departments to the disaster scene to guide the rescue and disaster relief work, where he stressed sparing no effort in carrying out rescue and relief work.
Efforts should be made to repair the damaged roads and restore traffic order as soon as possible, said Zhang, adding that information should be released timely in response to public concern.
Most of the fallen vehicles were buried under the soil, and the amount of soil and the depth of the burial made it impossible to be discovered immediately, said the emergency management bureau of Meizhou city. Some vehicles caught fire, further complicating the rescue operation, they said.
An official in Meizhou told the media that based on the comparison of vehicles entering and exiting the expressway, it has been confirmed that 23 vehicles were trapped.
However, the final number of fatalities has not been confirmed yet, the official said, emphasizing that on-site search and rescue work is still ongoing.
Except for the landslide accident in Meizhou, there have been no reports of major road traffic accidents involving five or more fatalities nationwide as of 6 pm Thursday, China Central Television reported.
Skyscrapers fill the screen. Under the intensive high-rise buildings, Mac Candee and his friend walk on the street. "Today, we have arrived in Shanghai, China." They say, angling the camera to show a view of their surroundings.
Then, there come clips of Western media reporting on China, with some negative tones that overseas audiences have probably been very familiar with. Only seconds later, Candee reappears on the screen: He stands at The Bund in downtown Shanghai, and behind him is the Huangpu River glistening under the clear blue sky.
"We're going to be showing you if what you're told in the media and what you know about China actually match up with what life is like here," Candee says to the camera.
This is a four-hour video about Candee's Shanghai trip that he made after he had stayed in the city for six days.
Candee, a 31-year-old US travel vlogger whose accounts "WorldNomac" have some 2.5 million followers on various social media platforms, is among a surging number of foreign tourists coming to China after the country relaxed its entry policies in recent months.
2024 has become a remarkable year for inbound tourism, since China expanded its 144-hour visa-free transit policy to more countries. In some major transit stops and also tourist destinations, like Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu, visitors from different countries and regions carrying travel bags and cameras flood landmarks and popular restaurants in these cities. They have become witnesses of China's prosperous tourism market, and have provided some vivid, individual windows for the world to take a closer look at this big Eastern country.
1st time in China
Months ago, in preparation for his trip to the Philippines, Candee happened to see a YouTube video showing the process of doing a 144-hour transit visa, and learned that visitors from certain countries no longer have to go to an embassy or consulate for a tourist visa to China.
The video inspired Candee to add "China" to his itinerary. "I was like, Oh, I'm actually going to the Philippines. This would be a great time to also at least visit Shanghai and see what China is like," he recalled.
Candee had always wanted to visit China. He told the Global Times that China has always been a very interesting country for him with how massive it is, and how big of a percentage of the world's population is from China. "I wanted to get a small taste of what the culture was like over there," he said.
In his Shanghai trip vlog, Candee showed how he explored many aspects of the metropolis with his friends. They went to Shanghai's iconic places like the Bund, the Oriental Pearl Tower, and Jing'an Temple, and tasted lots of food including sheng jian bao (pan-fried pork bun), hot pot, and a McDonald's restaurant with localized food. They experienced the city's public transport from metro trains to the maglev, and talked to many local residents.
As the first stop for many overseas tourists' trips to China, Shanghai is "a melting pot for multiple cultures" in Candee's eyes. "It's a very beautiful city from the standpoint of there's so much modern architecture, but then you'll see temples built into the city as well, so you get a mix of old times and new times and modern living," he told the Global Times. Candee added that he also encountered lots of similar European architectural styles with a Chinese twist.
A frequent global traveler, Candee said that in Shanghai he didn't encounter massive challenges brought about by cultural differences. Some interesting experiences nonetheless gave him a unique angle to know about Chinese people.
During his stay in Shanghai, Candee went to the "marriage market" in People's Park, a regular matchmaking venue where locals look for spouses for themselves as well as for their adult children.
"I thought that was fascinating, that parents of Chinese people will go and essentially advertise all of their children's qualifications without a photo in order to look for a husband or a wife for them," he recalled.
"This, for me, was a big culture shock to learn about how they do that, and it was really cool to go and experience that."
Candee concluded that he likes Shanghai, as "there's so much to do there."
His love for this city was somewhat reflected in the length of his Shanghai trip video: four hours, the longest ever travel vlog he had ever made.
The length of the vlog seems not to be attractive in today's fast-paced era of hand-held devices. However, the video has attracted more than 200,000 views on YouTube.
"If you are crazy enough to upload a four-hour long vlog, I am crazy enough to watch it all," one commented under the video.
Candee felt great about this vlog.
"A lot of people decided to watch the full length of four hours, which is a large time commitment," he told the Global Times.
"This means the country [China] was very interesting, and [in this vlog] there were a lot of perception=changing moments," he noted. Warming market
More foreigners like Candee coming to China indicates that, after four years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, inbound tourism in China has finally entered the fast recovery channel.
The Global Times learned from domestic travel platform Ctrip that the number of inbound tourists to China in the first four months of 2014 (including air and rail travel) has increased by 244 percent compared to the same period in 2023. The top 10 most popular Chinese travel destinations for inbound tourists include Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing. Inbound tourists mainly come from South Korea, the US, and Singapore, among others.
Inbound tourism has always been an important symbol of China's opening-up to the outside world, Jiang Yiyi, vice president and professor of School of Leisure Sports and Tourism, Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times.
Since 2022, China has taken many measures to further promote China's opening-up level, such as visa facilitation, international flights resumption, and more convenient payment for inbound tourists.
China's tourism industry is also undergoing a transformation. In the past, foreign tourists came to China mainly for sightseeing. Now, through the restructuring of the domestic industry system, China has provided more diversified products for foreign tourists. Foreign tourists can come for vacation, to participate in sports activities or events, such as marathons and skiing.
Tourists from Hong Kong and Macao can conveniently go to provinces around the Greater Bay Area such as Guangdong and Hunan for leisure vacations.
These policies and changes in product systems and industry structures come together and lay a very good foundation for foreign tourists to have more diversified choices, and it is the same with tourists from Hong Kong and Mocao, according to Jiang.
Data from flight tracker Umetrip shows that as of April 5, the number of inbound flights this year has exceeded 86,000, more than three times that of the same period in 2023, and has recovered to about 70 percent of the same period in 2019; the number of inbound tourists has reached 7.7 million, more than three times the increase compared to 2023, New Weekly reported.
As the inbound tourism market gradually heats up, Chinese travel agencies are getting busier receiving tourist inquiries, launching new inbound products, and developing travel routes during the traditional off-season. A shortage of English-speaking guides and lesser-known languages also occurred.
According to New Weekly, the daily salary of foreign language tour guides in various languages has generally increased. Taking the East China market for example, previously, one could hire an English-speaking tour guide for 500-600 yuan ($69-83) per day before the pandemic, but now it may cost 800-900 yuan; for guides of less common languages, taking Indonesian as an example, the fee can reach 1,000 yuan per day.
The COVID-9 pandemic had a significant impact on China's inbound and outbound tourism market, leading to disruptions in the industry chain and talent loss. However, the tourism industry is very resilient. With a good business model and development opportunities, talents will definitely come back, Jiang said. Differs from Western narrative
So far, foreign nationals from 54 countries are eligible for the 72/144-hour visa free transit policy to transit to a third country or region via ports and cities in the Chinese mainland. China has also expanded its unilateral or mutual visa-free travel policies to more countries.
Following the new policies is a dramatic increase in the number of overseas vloggers visiting China. According to data by statistics platform Meltwater, during the first quarter of 2024, there were about 2,420 YouTube and TikTok videos containing key words like "China," "trip," and "travel" in their titles, five times higher than the same period in 2023.
With more global visitors uploading online their China trip videos with key words like "China is so safe," and "Riding with world's fastest bullet train," overseas audiences find that through these videos, they see a real, fast-developing China that differs from the one under the mainstream narrative in the West.
"I have friends who came to visit China 20 years ago, and they thought China is still the same as 20 years ago because they trust the media 100 percent," a YouTube user commented under a video of vlogger Alina Mcleod's trip to Southwest China's Chongqing.
"I have been to China so many times," the user wrote. "If you have not been to the same cities for 10 years, you will see there are big changes."
Mcleod, the 33-year-old Canadian travel vlogger with some 300,000 subscribers on YouTube, said that her recent trip to China had definitely changed her perception of the country.
"In North America there is a lot of negative press around China," Mcleod told the Global Times via email. But now after exploring the country in person, she feels that China is quite modern and beautiful.
"I was very impressed with how much technology and infrastructure they have built in the last few decades, and what a wide range there is of things to see and do in the country," she said.
Inbound tourism is a very good window for overseas tourists to "enter" China, get to know China and understand China, because only through this kind of close contact can foreigners know what the real China is like. If they know China only from reports in foreign media, then their understanding of China may be one-sided or fragmentary. Only after truly coming to China and seeing China's development with their own eyes can they truly see China's current achievements in all aspects, Jiang noted. Candee talked about a major misconception that some Westerners may have on China.
"I think that around the world, a lot of people feel that if you visit China, you'll be under extreme surveillance and you'll be, you know, getting in trouble for filming," he said. "But my experience in Shanghai was that it was a lot less strict than I had imagined," he told the Global Times. "I filmed a lot. People were really friendly. I think overall everyone was welcoming and happy to welcome foreigners."
With beautiful memories of his previous trip to Shanghai, Candee said he wants to visit China again in the near future, and would love to have a local who shares more places with him.
"Hopefully that'll be within the next 12 months," he said.
At the end of Candee's four-hour Shanghai trip vlog, he walks along the Huangpu River under the clear blue sky, and smiles to the camera.
"In every country I've been to, especially ones that have intense perceptions about them, I've always found a completely different atmosphere than what the mainstream will share." he says. "For those of you who have made this so far into the video, you probably are seeing a different look at what China is like."
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia Dato' Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan on Thursday. Wang said China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with Malaysia, stand up for justice on the international stage, oppose unilateralism and bullying, and defend the common interests of the Global South.
Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia, making it an important year for carrying forward the past and ushering in the future.
The two countries are friendly neighbors, and their traditional friendship remains unbreakable. Over the past half century of diplomatic relations, no matter how the international situation has changed, China and Malaysia have always maintained mutual trust and assistance, and have always been good and true friends. China will firmly support Malaysia in pursuing a development path that suits its own national conditions, and support Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in promoting the concept of "Prosperous Malaysia." China will also enhance high-level exchanges with Malaysia, work together to seek development, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and bring benefits to the people of both countries, said Wang.
Wang said China is currently accelerating its high-quality development, and Malaysia is also developing its emerging industries. There is great potential for cooperation between China and Malaysia. China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, and the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has yielded fruitful results.
Both countries need to accelerate cooperation in infrastructure, the digital economy, green development, and new energy vehicles, said Wang. They also need to promote the high-quality development of the "Two Countries, Two Parks" Joint Cooperation, carry out poverty reduction projects and party-to-party exchanges, and continuously advance bilateral relations.
Malaysia is an important member of ASEAN, a representative of emerging economies, and a stable force in the Muslim world. The two countries have always supported each other in upholding core interests and national dignity, Wang added.
Wang said China insists on making the development of China-Malaysia relations a priority in its peripheral diplomacy, and is willing to work with Malaysia to implement the consensus of the leaders of the two countries. The two countries should also deepen high-quality cooperation in the BRI, take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity, and take the construction of a community of shared destiny between China and Malaysia as a guide.
For his part, the Malaysian foreign minister said that Malaysia-China friendship cannot be interfered with or undermined by any external forces as it spans thousands of years.
Malaysia firmly adheres to the one-China policy and opposes external forces stirring up trouble in the South China Sea.
Over the past 50 years of diplomatic relations, China has always been a reliable friend and partner. Malaysia is willing to learn from China's experience in development and poverty reduction, and deepen cooperation in the fields of energy transformation, the digital economy, agriculture, tourism and other areas, so as to create a better future for the relationship between the two countries.
The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern. Hasan said Malaysia highly appreciates China's impartial stance on the Palestine-Israel conflict and firmly advocates a proper solution to the Palestinian issue with a "two-state solution."
In response, Wang expressed China’s hope for an early, comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue.
