Micro-blog recently announced the list of the most internationally influential inbound tourism cities for 2025-2026. A total of 10 Chinese cities made the list. Qingdao stood out from a number of popular tourism cities and appeared on the list alongside Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen.

Since the beginning of this year, Qingdao has upheld the general tone of “establishing a strong foothold in South Korea, beefing up marketing efforts in Southeast Asia, expanding influence in Europe and America, and tapping potential among SCO member states”, given prime considerations to the needs of inbound tourists and prioritized key procedures such as customs clearance, payment, language service and consumption to take continuous steps to improve and upgrade inbound tourism in an effort to develop itself into an international consumption center city and an international coastal tourist destination. In terms of Qingdao’s efforts to facilitate payment, more than 5,200 key merchants can accept foreign bank cards for digital payment, over 2,300 ATMs in 18 key banks can provide cash withdrawal services for foreign bank cards, and more than 1,000 institutions are consistently available for foreign currency exchange. The number of shops eligible for tax refund upon departure has expanded to 159, 15 of which provide the instant refund-upon-purchase service.  (Ma Xiaoting)

A group of foreign tourists tour the old urban area of Qingdao.

By Liu Dong