China’s ICBC to provide 300-billion yuan in tourism financing

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THE Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will offer 300-billion yuan (S$56.1 billion) in financing to boost the nation’s tourism sector amid sluggish consumer spending in the world’s second-largest economy.

The country’s biggest bank signed a cooperation pact with China’s culture and tourism ministry on Tuesday (Apr 2) to “stimulate” tourism investment and spending, according to a statement posted on the ministry’s official WeChat account.

ICBC and ministry will work together on key tourism-related construction projects, according to the statement. Some tourism agencies based in several Asian cities including Seoul, Tokyo and Thailand also signed agreements with ICBC’s branches.

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China’s economy has been hampered by deflationary pressure and a protracted property crisis, dampening consumer spending. Tourism, however, has been a rare economic bright spot.

The country saw domestic tourism trips soar 93.3 per cent last year from 2022, with spending reaching 4.91 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 140.3 per cent.

During February’s eight-day Chinese New Year holiday, domestic trips rose 19 per cent from the pre-Covid 2019, while spending climbed 7.7 per cent.

Still, while overall trip spending has jumped, per capita travel spending is down compared with pre-pandemic years. Source: BLOOMBERG

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