Tourism in China

Main article: Economy of China

2023

The number of trips of Chinese tourists to Russia over the year has grown 4 times

The number of Chinese trips Russia in 2023 reached 790 thousand against 130 thousand a year earlier. Especially impressive growth was noted in the field of tourism - from 800 to 199.8 thousand trips (an increase of four times). This follows from the data Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation published in February 2024. More. here

Resumption of outbound tourism after restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020:55 UNESCO-protected World Heritage Sites

The number of UNESCO-protected World Heritage Sites as of August 2020

2019

Chinese border guards take smartphones from tourists and install spyware

In early July 2019, it became known that smartphones China spying was installed on tourists entering. software

According to The Guardian, Chinese border guards are asking people crossing the border to unlock smartphones and give them away. After that, customs officers are removed and after a while return to the owners of the device with a special application that scans the OS and collects personal data, including email, messages, contacts and location coordinates.

Chinese customs officers establish spyware to check the phones of passengers who enter the country through checkpoints in Xinjiang from Kyrgyzstan

According to journalists, the secret program is installed only on Android smartphones, while Chinese customs officers simply connect the iPhone of tourists to a special device that scans all the files contained there.

According to the findings of the authors of the investigation, after verification, the application was usually removed from phones, but in some cases it remained on devices and continued to track the owner's location.

Surveillance is organized for tourists who come to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the PRC through the Erkeshtam border checkpoint on the border with Kyrgyzstan. 

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is visited annually by about 100 million tourists - both foreigners and residents of other provinces of China. Most of the population of this region is the Turkic-speaking Uighur people. Beijing says the people have strong separatist movements and religious extremism.

The application, which is installed on phones of travelers entering the PRC, is aimed at a complete check of devices in order to search for prohibited and extremist content.^[1]

Experts who studied the work of spy software noted that the program analyzes about 73 thousand files, trying to find traces of extremism. Law enforcement agencies begin to closely study a citizen if, for example, excerpts from the Koran or music of a Japanese metal band were found on his phone.

Russians entering China will read correspondence in instant messengers

On May 27, 2019, it became known that smartphones of Russian tourists will be inspected at Chinese airports. Migration authorities will be able to check the contents of mobile devices, including correspondence in instant messengers, to make sure that the category of the issued visa and the real purpose of the trip comply.

The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Guangzhou warned Russian tourists that individual interviews will be held with them, tourists can also check the contents of mobile phones, for example, video and photo materials, electronic documents, correspondence in WeChat, WhatsApp, Viber applications, etc.

Russians warned about a possible check of their messengers at the entrance to China

It is clarified that all passengers arriving at the airport may well fall under "selective control." The practice is introduced both at the entrance directly to and China at transit stops at international airports located "within the consular district of the Consulate General Russia in Guangzhou."

If incriminating, according to the Chinese side, information is found, the tourist may be denied entry into the country.

The PRC also said that violators (for example, those who are convicted of arriving on a tourist visa for non-tourist purposes) will be placed in a "special room" with a single meal. Consular and airline representatives will be denied access to such travelers. The detention will be carried out until his return by the next flight to the country of arrival, according to a statement on the Foreign Ministry's website.

The Consulate General called on Russians to comply with the requirements of China's migration laws and be ready for checks. The diplomatic mission also said that it expects to learn about the circumstances of such situations.

Earlier  , the Chinese authorities decided to cancel visas for Russians visiting the southern island of Hainan. Russia is the largest source of inbound tourism in the region.^[2]

2018: Tourism revenue - $33bn

Data for 2018

Notes