A food safety factory shutdown has Americans hunting for baby formula. Readying themselves for a covid-19 lockdown, Chinese in Beijing emptied store shelves. Emerging from lockdown, some in Shanghai are visiting well-provisioned markets. U.S.-China agricultural trade is booming, but many are still being left hungry. Food security, sustainability and safety remain issues.
Hundreds of thousands visit
August 3, 2007
By Clayton Dube
ON AN AVERAGE DAY IN CHINA more than 342,307 people visit from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other places outside China. In 2006, a total of 124.9 million people visited. The overwhelming majority (79%) of these people were from Hong Kong and Macau, most making short business trips. More than 22 million foreigners and nearly half a million people from Taiwan visited in 2006.
|
Source of visitors in 2006
|
Number (millions)
|
|
Hong Kong
|
73.9
|
|
South Korea
|
3.9
|
|
Japan
|
3.7
|
|
Macau
|
2.4
|
|
Russia
|
2.4
|
|
U.S.
|
1.7
|
|
Malaysia
|
0.9
|
|
Singapore, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, U.K., Australia, Germany, Canada
|
each between
0.8 – 0.5 |
|
Taiwan
|
0.4
|
On an average day in 2006, 4,685 Americans visit China. Of those Americans, 3,077 are male and 1,608 are female. 45% of American visitors are between 45 and 64 years of age. Another 33% are between 25 and 44.
The total number of visitors to China has grown dramatically since the death of Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976 and Deng Xiaoping’s launch of economic reforms in 1978.
|
Year
|
Total Visitors
(millions) |
Top Sources of Visitors (besides Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan)
|
|
1979
|
4.2
|
|
|
1982
|
7.9
|
|
|
1986
|
22.8
|
|
|
1987
|
26.9
|
|
|
1996
|
51.1
|
|
|
2000
|
83.4
|
Japan, South Korea, Russia, U.S., Malaysia
|
|
2005
|
120.3
|
|
|
2006
|
124.9
|
South Korea, Japan, Russia, U.S., Malaysia
|
Sources:
China National Tourist Administration, "Review of China's Tourism Industry," http://old.cnta.gov.cn/lyen/2fact/inbound%20tourism-1.htm, n.d., accessed August 4, 2007.
China National Tourist Office, "China Tourism Statistics," http://www.cnto.org/chinastats.asp#Stats, n.d., accessed August 4, 2007.
Erdmann Gormsen, “The Impact of Tourism on Regional Change in China,” GeoJournal 21.1/2 (May/June 1990): 127-135.
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