Japan's languishing economy is getting a lift from hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists who are eager to flaunt their newfound wealth by purchasing brand name goods, from Canon digital cameras to Shiseido cosmetics.
Last year, a record 481,696 Chinese tourists visited Japan, up nearly 20 percent from 2007, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. While it's difficult to measure the precise impact of Chinese tourist spending, it is warmly welcomed by Japan's struggling retailers.
As Japan's population ages and declines, the world's No. 2 economy will become increasingly dependent on such consumer spending from those who live outside the country — and Tokyo knows it.
Japan will ease tourist visa restrictions on July 1 for mainland Chinese citizens, hoping to draw more visitors — and their big wallets.
Thanks to years of rapid growth, China now has the world's fourth largest population of millionaires after the United States, Japan and Germany, according to a Merrill Lynch Wealth Management/Capgemini survey.
To cash in on China's rising wealth, Tokyo will start to issue tourist visas to Chinese who hold gold cards — credit cards granted to those above a certain income level with good credit histories — or who earn more than 60,000 yuan ($8,800) annually.
That's down sharply from a previous income requirement of 250,000 yuan ($37,000) per year, a threshold that apparently was imposed to keep low-income earners from staying on and becoming illegal aliens.
The revised income requirement is still well above the average income for a Chinese city dweller — 19,000 yuan ($2,800) last year.
For Chinese tourists, shopping is the most popular activity while in Japan.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hbo1xSifyRFYI3LW95Zfu_4u-drwD9GKOE8G0
No comments:
Post a Comment