Shanghai Draws Over 44 Million Visitors on Back of Cultural-Commercial Integration

Shanghai's success in drawing more than 44 million Chinese and foreign visitors last year hinged on deep integration of culture, commerce, tourism, sports and exhibitions, a National People's Congress delegate said Friday.

Quan Heng, party secretary of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters after a plenary session of the Shanghai delegation that the city hosted 3,715 large-scale events in 2025, receiving 44.14 million visitors, including 9.36 million inbound tourists.

Responding to a question about cultivating new consumption scenarios and revitalizing urban spending, Quan said Shanghai would accelerate efforts to build an international consumption center city during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Key initiatives include extending the consumer goods trade-in program, expanding service consumption, unlocking inbound spending potential and staging signature shopping festivals such as the "5-5 Shopping Festival," he said.

During the just-concluded Spring Festival, Shanghai's "Come to Shanghai for Chinese New Year" campaign – featuring concert events and the Yuyuan Lantern Festival – placed the city second nationwide as a top holiday destination.

Looking ahead, Quan outlined plans to grow the "first-release economy," the silver economy, digital consumption and self-care spending, while building integrated consumption clusters under banners such as "Culture+," "Tourism+," "Sports+," "Healthcare+," "Technology+" and "Cruise+."

"Through the integration of culture, commerce, tourism, sports and exhibitions, we aim to make Shanghai a city with distinctive four seasons, monthly themes, weekly highlights, daily activities, ubiquitous scenes and constant surprises," Quan said.