Consumption season to woo more visitors to Shanghai

The 2026 Shanghai Summer International Consumption Season, which is in its third edition this year, will feature new scenarios and further improve services to attract more inbound travelers, said officials and industry experts attending the event's launch ceremony on Friday.

Yuan Xiaoming, assistant minister of commerce, said that attracting consumption from inbound travelers will be one major feature of this year's event, with the ties between businesses, tourism, cultural activities and sports further strengthened.

Shanghai's open business environment and regional advantages are conducive to the creation of new consumption scenarios. This will not only help overseas consumers better experience Shanghai's vitality, but also provide valuable lessons for other regions in the country, said Yuan at the launch ceremony.

Taking place from July to October, including the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, this year's event will feature a number of benchmark sporting activities, including the Rolex Shanghai Masters 2026 — a top ATP 1000 tennis event — and the Shanghai leg of the 2026 Motocross World Championship.

Cui Jian, deputy head of the General Administration of Sport of China, said key sports events can serve as an important magnet for international tourists, which can further translate into incremental consumption in the city. New business models and scenarios can be created in Shanghai to provide more options for inbound travelers, he said.

Services provided to inbound travelers, including transportation, accommodation, catering, electronic facilitation, payments and tax refunds, will be further upgraded to make overseas visitors' stay and shopping experiences in Shanghai more amiable, said Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.

HiChina, an all-in-one travel app for international visitors to China, will optimize its full-range services for visitors staying in Shanghai, while navigation app Amap will integrate Shanghai's distinctive shopping destinations into travel itineraries in a natural way, Liu said.

Easy Go, a digital platform jointly launched by the municipal government and Alipay last year to enhance the travel experience for international visitors, will be upgraded by incorporating artificial intelligence to accurately identify user commands in multiple languages and provide digital and intelligent services such as ride-hailing, ticket booking and translation, Liu added.

A mobile processing platform for departure tax refunds will be introduced, allowing inbound travelers to handle tax refund shopping invoices, instant refunds upon purchases, customs verification and port tax refunds on their mobile phones, she added.

Shanghai Pass — a multi-purpose prepaid card for inbound travelers introduced last year — has this year created a QR code which covers 150 art galleries and museums across the city, said Sun Yao, general manager of Shanghai City Tour Card.

Overseas travelers can apply for the digital service prior to their trips to Shanghai so that they are ready to use it once they arrive in the city. Apart from using Shanghai's transportation with Shanghai Pass, the card can also connect to public transportation services in more than 300 cities across the country, she said.

Chu Xiaobo, director of the Shanghai Museum, said that overseas travelers now make up at least 10 percent of the museum's visitors throughout the year. The interest in visiting China continues to rise — a passion fueled by the visa-free policy. Travelers to Shanghai usually visit neighboring cities, helping to boost consumption across a wider region, he said.

Nicolas Willemot, global head of the consumer products practice at the consulting firm Bain & Co, said Shanghai now features the combination of local cultural elements such as the Shikumen architectural style and consumption. It helps to amplify the heritage and differentiate the city from other international metropolises.

shijing@chinadaily.com.cn