China needs more foreigners for economic growth

China has often worsened this problem by using tourism to further its political aims

For decades, China has sought to expand its “soft power,” or the ability to extend influence through non-military means. It spends some $10 billion a year promoting language schools and building universities overseas. It’s pushing entertainment companies to expand in foreign markets. And it has long been hoping to lure foreign travellers, just as the US and Europe do.

State media have said that the plan is to “develop tourism into a major driver of economic transformation and upgrading.” But that effort is faltering: Inbound tourism last year rose by only 3.8 per cent, with roughly 80 percent