Tag: China

From everything I have been reading the Japanese are actually happy about the reduction in Chinse tourists and the Koreans seem to be happy to have them, so a win-win for everyone:

Tang and his family were among the influx of Chinese tourists who visited Korea during the holiday period, which began on Feb. 15 and ended on Monday.

Beijing and Tokyo have been embroiled in a diplomatic dispute since November, when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that Tokyo could respond militarily to a potential attack on Taiwan. In response, Beijing has advised citizens to avoid traveling to Japan.

Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism estimated that up to 190,000 Chinese tourists visited the country during the nine-day holiday period. The daily average was 44 percent higher than during last year’s holiday window, which ran from Jan. 24 to 29.

The fresh wave of Chinese tourists brought rare optimism to Korea’s retail and tourism sectors, which have been dampened by a consumption slowdown.

In the weeks leading up to the holiday, retailers and tourism operators rolled out intensive marketing campaigns tailored to Chinese tourists, including discounts and gift vouchers linked to Chinese payment platforms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Chinese tourists have traditionally been big spenders, according to Korean tourism industry officials. The most recent government data shows that the average spending per Chinese visitor to Korea reached $1,622 in 2024, compared with the overall foreign visitor average of $1,372.

Even the Korean government has been pulling out all the stops to encourage more spending by Chinese group tourists. On Feb. 15, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young visited Myeong-dong, one of Seoul’s main shopping and tourism districts, to inspect facilities for foreign visitors, and called for efforts to foster a more welcoming atmosphere.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The way I look at it, is that I have no issues with a Chinese automaker selling their cars in the U.S. if they use American labor, follow American labor and environmental laws, and are not subsidized by the Chinese government:

Aerial view of new vehicles waiting for shipment to overseas markets in a port in Lianyungang in eastern China. – FeatureChina/AP

Chinese cars could be at an American dealership sooner than you think, and that’s good news for US consumers.

Chinese car companies make more vehicles than anyone else on Earth and export more as well. But high tariffs and hostile US-China trade relations have kept them out of the American market.

That’s likely to change, according to experts, with Chinese autos hitting US showrooms in the next five to 10 years.

“The ambition is there,” said Lei Xing, an independent auto analyst and former chief editor of China Automotive Review magazine, even if companies have to build factories here rather than ship cars here from China.

He said multiple Chinese automakers have shown “readiness to come to the US, to build in the US.”

That would be helpful for American car buyers. Greater competition means more choices, especially for EVs, which in turn should lower prices. But it would also squeeze the profits and market share of the car companies already selling in the US, likely affecting the nearly 1 million people who work for them.

Chinese cars shipped to America come with a 100% tariff, by far the highest tariff rate for any import. But President Donald Trump, a critic of most Chinese products, recently seemed welcoming of Chinese brands if they build plants in the US.

CNN

You can read more at the link.

 I definitely think of better place to spend Lunar New Year’s than in North Korea:

China’s Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun and other embassy officials have visited a beach resort area in North Korea on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, state media reported Sunday, raising views on whether Pyongyang is seeking to attract Chinese tourists.

Wang and other members of the Chinese Embassy in North Korea attended the friendly meeting that took place at the Wonsan-Kalma beach resort area the previous day, also attended by the North’s Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Pyongyang’s foreign ministry hosted a banquet to mark the Lunar New Year at a landmark hotel in the coastal tourist district, the KCNA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.