Subramania Bhatt (Subbu), Founder and CEO of China Trading Desk, recently joined CGTN’s internationally broadcast podcast Chat Lounge to analyse the meteoric rise of Labubu, a China-made designer toy that has sparked a global craze from Asia to North America.

Inbound travel has emerged as a bright spot in China’s Labour Day holiday spending, while domestic tourism is seeing modest growth amid nationwide efforts to boost consumption during a heated trade war with the United States.

Advanced flight bookings from China to the US for this summer have declined, the latest data shows amid escalating trade tensions between the economic superpowers.

China is bracing for a major outbound travel surge during this year’s Labor Day Golden Week. An average of 2.15 million cross-border passenger trips are expected per day, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA).

A recession would slow global tourism growth. Skift Research recently lowered its 2025 global travel growth forecast from 6% to 9% down to 2% to 5% due to U.S. recession and global slowdown risks being higher than at the start of the year.

Thailand is no longer one of Chinese tourists’ top five preferred destinations, a new study has shown, prompting industry executives to propose using subsidised flights to reverse the decline.

As we mark the 7th anniversary of China Trading Desk, we take this moment to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who have journeyed...

2025 marks a pivotal inflection point in global tourism — and Chinese travellers are once again leading the charge. After years of pandemic disruption, China’s outbound travel market is not just recovering, it’s accelerating toward a new horizon: 200 million international trips by 2028.

According to market research firm, China Trading Desk‘s latest China Outbound Travel Sentiment Survey for Q1 2025, a majority (58%) of Chinese travellers have the intent to shop before boarding in the airport, while 28% are undecided – a clear opportunity for targeted promotions or in-store engagement to convert potential shoppers.