"The country where a Chinese would like to visit” - Japan came first in the JETRO investigation

Recently the NHK News On-line reported the following:

「中国人が行きたい国」日本が初の１位に ＪＥＴＲＯ調査

12月18日 5時08分

日本を訪れる外国人観光客のいわゆるインバウンド消費が景気を引っ張る役割を担う中、「中国人が行きたい国」の１位に日本が初めて選ばれました。調査を行ったＪＥＴＲＯ＝日本貿易振興機構では、日中関係の改善が進み、中国人観光客によるさらなる消費の増加が期待されるとしています。

ＪＥＴＲＯでは毎年、北京や上海など６つの大都市で比較的所得が高い２０代から４０代までのアンケート調査を行っていて、今回は１２００人余りから回答を得ました。

この中で今後行きたい国・地域を聞いたところ、日本が４０．２％となり、前回トップのアメリカを抜いて２０１３年の調査開始以来初めて１位となりました。

さらに、日本に行きたいと答えた人に日本で何がしたいか聞くと、「遊園地やテーマパークなどで遊ぶ」が６０．８％と最も多く、２位が「食事」で５１．７％、３位が「買い物」で５０．６％、「桜の観賞」が４２．３％で４位となり、いわゆる爆買いに象徴されるショッピングにとどまらず、日本でのさまざまな体験を重視していることがうかがえます。

一方、日本で買いたいものとしては、トップが化粧品で２７．６％、次いで衣料・日用品が２０．８％、デジタル製品が１６．２％、食品が１３．７％などとなっています。

また、ネット通販を利用して中国にいながら日本の商品を買ったことがある人はおよそ７割に達していて、特に日本を旅行した時に購入して気に入ったことを理由に挙げた割合が、前回の２倍近い４０％に増えたということです。

ＪＥＴＲＯ中国北アジア課の箱崎大課長は「日本のイメージの向上を追い風にでき、日本を訪れる旅行者の数もまだまだ増えると予想されるので、伸びしろがある」と述べ、日中関係の改善が進む中、中国人観光客によるさらなる消費の増加が期待されるとしています。

My   translation

Amidst the  role of  the so-called inbound consumption by foreigner tourists who visited  Japan that was playing a part in popping up  the business, Japan was chosen as the number one " country where the Chinese would like to visit" for the first time. JETRO= Japan trade promotion organization that did the investigation believed that due to the progress in the improvement of Japan-China relations, an increase in further consumption by Chinese tourists could be expected.

Every year JETRO did an income questionnaire survey at 6 big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai that had relatively high income among people aged twenties and forties, this time got a response from about 1200 people.

Among them, when asked about the country and the area where they would like to visit from now on, Japan was 40.2% replacing the United States that was at the top last time, and it was the first time for Japan since the investigation started in 2013.

Furthermore among those who would like to visit Japan, when asked what they would like to do, "to play at an amusement park and a theme park" was 60.8% at the top, second was  “to have a meal" at 51.7% , and third was  "shopping" at 50.6 %, 4th place was “enjoying cherry trees" by 42.3%. While not limited to shopping which was symbolized by the so-called “baku buying”, they said that they gave importance to feeling the various experiences in Japan.

On the other hand, about the items they would like to buy in Japan, cosmetic  was 27.6 % at the top, second was clothes and daily necessities at 20.8%; digital products at 16.2% and  food at 13.7%.

Those people who while in China had already used to buying Japanese goods through the net catalog had reached approximately 70 percent, those who gave preferring to go to japan to buy as the reason for the visit had increased to 40% and was close to doubling the figure of last time.

Hakozaki the senior section chief of JETRO’s China Northern Asian department said that “It can improve the positive image of Japan, and the number of tourists visiting Japan is expected to increase, there is rooms for growth." As improvement in Japan-China relations was advancing, an increase in further consumption by Chinese tourists was expected.

     The hope the diplomatic conflicts at the governmental level between China and Japan will not affect the cultural flow among the people of these two countries.