Vietnam is the world’s second most popular destination for Chinese visitors

In 2026, Chinese tourists are expected to make 165-175 million cross-country trips, an increase of 10-20 million compared to 155 million in 2025.

According to research by China Trading Desk published on January 8, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand, in order, will become the three most popular destinations for Chinese tourists this year, because each place has the advantage of convenient transportation connections with China, possessing many famous attractions. Far-flung destinations such as Europe and Africa are also of interest to Chinese tourists this year.

Established in 2018, China Trading Desk provides the tourism industry with the “China Outbound Travel Sentiment Survey”, a periodic survey on the behavior and psychology of Chinese people traveling abroad. This is an in-depth data source with a survey sample of tens of thousands of people, frequently cited by major international news agencies to analyze consumption trends.

In 2025, mainland China will also be the largest market sending visitors to Vietnam, with 5.28 million visitors, accounting for 25% of the total international visitor market share. Meanwhile, in 2025, Thailand will welcome 4.5 million Chinese visitors.

Analysts and industry experts in China believe that the number of Chinese international visitors will continue to grow this year thanks to many countries’ visa exemption policies for their citizens.

From December 2025, Chinese tourists traveling to Russia will not need a visa if they stay less than 30 days. Türkiye will apply a visa exemption policy for Chinese tourists in January while Cambodia plans to waive visas for visitors from June to October.

Visa easing and exemption are considered important factors promoting the growth of the international tourism market in China, according to James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

The yuan’s increase of more than 1% against the dollar in the past month has added momentum to China’s outbound tourism market, according to Song Seng Wun, economic advisor at Singapore-based SDAX company. However, Mr. Song also said that a number of other Asian currencies have increased in value compared to the USD, reducing the advantage of the yuan.

In addition, the strong development of international routes in China has also become a driving force for tourists to travel more abroad, according to Sienna Parulis-Cook, director of marketing and communications at marketing company Dragon Trail International. A number of new routes continued to be opened in January in China, including Shanghai-Buenos Aires, Argentina and Beijing-Muscat, Oman.

However, Chinese tourists to Japan are expected to decline sharply in 2026. A China Trading Desk survey shows that Japan welcomed between 4.8 million and 5.8 million Chinese visitors this year, down nearly 50% from 9.3 million visitors in 2025.

The monthly number of Chinese visitors to Japan decreased to 560,000 in November when political tensions occurred between the two countries, and by December it only reached 530,000. Previously, in October, when there was no political tension, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan reached 715,000. China Trading Desk CEO Subramania Bhatt said part of the reason for this decline was “the mentality of avoiding Japan”.

All Nippon Airways, one of Japan’s largest airlines, said the number of tourists and business travelers from Japan to China has remained largely unchanged since November, but the airline is trying to increase revenue by marketing flights to overseas Chinese returning home.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), China’s tourism industry is forecast to grow 7% in each coming decade, contributing $3,800 billion to the country’s gross domestic product. By 2031, China is forecast to become the world’s largest tourism market, surpassing the US.