China Exclusive

During the ongoing Spring Festival holiday, a quiet shift is taking place in the shopping carts of inbound travelers. Alongside international luxury brands, a growing number of products are "only available in China." It's not just a consumption upgrade, but also a form of cultural identity, from "seeing China" to "taking China home."

"Shopping is not just consumption. It's a conversation with a city," said Mixalis Tampakakis, a Greek tourist, while strolling along East Nanjing Road in Shanghai.

In the days leading up to the holiday, products featuring Year of the Horse designs and traditional patterns became early bestsellers. At Universal Beijing Resort, Dutch visitor Finn Grunbauer picked up a horse-themed hat and a Spring Festival T-shirt. "The festive atmosphere here makes you want to take this warmth home," he said.

Locally designed apparel with Eastern aesthetics is also gaining traction. At a time-honored clothing store on Jimo Road in East China's coastal city of Qingdao, a young Indian man named Lenin was drawn to a traditional kungfu-style shirt and paid for it on the spot. Store manager Zhang Wen noted that foreign customers contribute over 30 percent of sales.

In Shanghai, a staff member at a LI-NING sportswear store observed a similar trend. "Foreign tourists show a strong interest in new Chinese-style designs. On average, three or four out of every 10 foreign customers end up making a purchase."

China-chic toys are equally popular. At a store of the Chinese toymaker TOP TOY in Shanghai, Lee Han-Bin, a visitor from the Republic of Korea (ROK), picked up a set of building-block toys from the "Great Power" collection. "I've found so many toy stores here. The variety is amazing," he said.

This enthusiasm is resonating with new market trends. In October 2025, five central departments, including the Ministry of Finance, issued a notice requiring duty-free shops to dedicate at least one-quarter of their space to domestic products.

Since November, updated policies for duty-free shopping in Hainan, a southern Chinese island province, have allowed certain domestic products to be sold tax-free at offshore duty-free stores. These include apparel, footwear, hats, ceramic products, silk scarves, coffee, tea and other items that reflect Chinese brands and the island's character.