On February 26, the topic of "foreigners have money in China and it is difficult to spend" swept the Internet in China. This means that the problems that plague foreigners have aroused concern in Chinese society. The February 27 issue of the American "Overseas Chinese Daily" published a chapter entitled "Solving the Payment Dilemma of Foreigners in China with "Money Difficult to Spend"", pointing out that whether or not this problem can be resolved is not only related to the foreigners' sense of experience and gain in China, but also a review and test of China's ability to integrate with the international community and the "gold content" of high-level opening-up.
Foreign tourists use electronic payment software in Hangzhou. (*From Xinhua News Agency).
The article said that the so-called "money is difficult to spend" mainly refers to the troubles often faced when withdrawing cash, swiping cards, and cash payments, and at the same time feeling unfamiliar, unadaptable, or even unusable to China's mobile payment methods.
The article points out that benefiting from the resumption of international routes, the expansion of China's circle of friends as a "visa-free country", and the facilitation of visa processing to China, many foreigners will set foot on Chinese soil in 2023. Since 2024, the number of foreign tourists visiting China has further increased. During the Chinese New Year holiday just past, there were 3.23 million foreigners visiting China.
More foreigners entering China will help further unleash the potential of China's tourism industry. A country's tourism industry is usually divided into two parts: domestic tourism and inbound tourism. Looking at the world, the inbound tourism income of developed countries in the United States and Europe accounts for more than 1% of GDP. The United States is 105%, and the United Kingdom, France, Italy and other countries are all more than 2%. In 2019, China's inbound tourism revenue accounted for only 05%。This shows that there is still a lot of room for growth in China's inbound tourism market.
The article believes that more foreigners entering China is also the meaning of China's promotion of high-level opening-up. In recent years, high-level opening-up has become a key word in China's economic development. In December 2023, China's first economic work conference clearly mentioned that one of the key tasks in the new year is to expand high-level opening up. This high-level opening-up is reflected not only in the reduction of obstacles and barriers to the cross-border flow of goods, but also in the further relaxation and removal of access restrictions, and in the making it easier for foreigners to travel to China. Since 2023, while expanding the circle of friends of "visa-free countries", China has also introduced policies such as simplifying the application materials for visa documents for foreign nationals in China and reducing visa fees for going to China, further breaking through the blockages of foreigners going to China for business, study, and tourism.
The article says that in today's world, "often going out to see" and "stringing each other down" are a kind of living needs of the villagers in the global village, but due to multiple factors such as the epidemic of the century, the rise of protectionism, and the game of great powers, the current world has become somewhat closed and closed, which also makes the pace of global economic growth falter. This is not the world that humans have been familiar with in recent decades.
The article points out that China's high-level opening-up is not only out of the needs of its own development, but also helps to promote the return of the world to the way people expect. From Athens and Rome in history, to Chang'an and Luoyang in the Han and Tang dynasties of China, to the United States, which was able to catch up after only 200 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, their glory is inseparable from the support and respect for international personnel exchanges. History has also shown time and again that with more movement and interaction, cooperation between countries in the fields of commerce, technology, people-to-people and the arts can continue to expand, and understanding between people is expected to continue to deepen, which in turn will make the bonds between human beings more resilient.
Foreigners have money in China that is difficult to spend, which may affect the fluency of Sino-foreign exchanges, and also reflects that China still has room for improvement in terms of inclusive public services and optimizing the business environment.
The problem of foreigners spending money in China is the result of the differences between Chinese and foreign consumption habits, business culture, and infrastructure. At present, many foreigners still use credit cards and cash as the main forms of payment, but China is a country with a mobile payment penetration rate of more than 86%. In recent years, the concerns of foreigners have also been echoed by Chinese officials and financial payment platforms. In July 2023, Alipay and WeChat Pay announced that they would support binding overseas bank cards, but it is undeniable that there are still restrictions in some consumption scenarios in reality. What's more, there are still some foreigners who prefer to pay by card and cash out of privacy protection, personal habits and other considerations.
The article concludes by saying that China should solve the payment dilemma of foreigners in China as soon as possible. Whether this problem can be resolved is not only related to the experience and sense of gain of foreigners in China, but also a review and test of China's ability to integrate with the international community and the "gold content" of high-level opening-up. Recently, the Chinese government issued a document emphasizing the need to focus on the inconvenience of payment for foreign people and other groups, and promote the parallel development and complementarity of mobile payment, bank cards, cash and other payment methods. This reflects the high level of concern about this issue at the top of the Chinese leadership. Subsequently, China must break down and refine the plan as soon as possible, and at the same time further optimize it dynamically according to the latest feedback from foreigners. (ENDS).