Electronic products are being "renewed" with great enthusiasm, and cooling products are selling well in the market; cultural and tourism experiences continue to be "updated," and "China Cool" is attracting tourists from all over the world; new business formats are flourishing, and personalized scenarios are activating new consumption momentum... Since the beginning of summer, the domestic consumer market has been booming and active, outlining a vibrant and dynamic economic landscape.

Summer consumption "heat" released

Inside the JD.com Mall store located on the South Third Ring Road in Beijing, Mr. Liu accompanied his daughter, who is about to enter university, to choose a new mobile phone. "Many models have national subsidies, and with the store's subsidies, it's quite a good deal," Mr. Liu said.

A representative from JD Mall told reporters that the "post-exam economy" has been heating up since the summer vacation, coupled with the recent start of the school season, sales of electronic products such as mobile phones and tablets have been booming. Since July, sales of smartphones and Bluetooth headsets in many stores have increased by more than 100% year-on-year.

High temperatures in many areas during the summer have driven up demand for cooling drinks. In Shipaiqiao, Guangzhou, the newly opened "Heytea Craftsmanship" store, the first of its kind in the country this summer, launched five new product series, including craft tea specialties, bringing consumers a unique taste experience.

"Our 'Sour Tea' and 'Green Pomelo' products have been very popular since their launch. The store has also created a 'Craftsmanship Bar' to allow customers to observe the tea-making, brewing, and blending processes up close," said store manager Wu Peiyan.

Cooling products are selling like hotcakes on major e-commerce platforms. Data from Tmall shows that sales of household ice makers and ice-making water purifiers have increased significantly in the past two months, with sales of ice-making refrigerators increasing by over 80% year-on-year. During Kuaishou's "Cool Summer Season" campaign, demand for cooling and heat-reducing products rose significantly, with orders for ice mats and cooling patches increasing by nearly 30%.

Around the themes of "eating, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment," various regions are creating diverse summer consumption scenarios: Guangdong launched the "Summer Vacation in Guangdong" themed event, building a new ecosystem for the summer economy across the entire province; Tianjin launched eight series of distinctive activities, including "Rippling Water" and "Summer Coolness"; Zhejiang launched the "Shopping in China, Good Night Life in Zhejiang" 2026 Summer Consumption Season, connecting the province's distinctive cuisine, sports and trendy activities, nighttime light shows, and other resources in one stop...

"Focusing on the needs of parents, children, leisure, and housekeeping during the summer vacation, we are guiding life service platform companies to create the '8.8 Service Consumption Festival' to attract visitors and generate business through the event, promoting online and offline development and achieving digital empowerment, quality improvement, and benefit for the people," said Yan Dong, Vice Minister of Commerce.

The cultural tourism market is full of highlights.

At the Suizhou Museum in Hubei Province, wearing VR glasses feels like traveling through history: in the corridor, palace servants carry bronze vessels past, the inscriptions on the chime bells light up, and striking the front and side drums allows you to experience the wonder of "one bell, two tones"...

"The biggest surprise of this trip was unlocking the digital cultural heritage experience, which is very different from visiting museums before." Wang Songyuan, a college student from Wuhan, felt very novel after experiencing the "Journey Through the Bronze Age" VR project.

According to data from Qunar Travel, since July, summer vacation travel has become the main travel choice for tourists across the country, the popularity of museum study tours has increased by more than 70% year-on-year, and the search volume for water-related activities such as rafting and canyoning has increased dozens of times compared with the previous month.

Thanks to the combined effects of policies such as 240-hour visa-free transit and tax refunds for departing tourists, the "China Cool" topic became popular on overseas social media platforms this summer. Inbound tourism in many parts of the country continued to surge, and the number of inbound air tickets to cities such as Xi'an, Shangri-La, and Xilinhot on travel platforms doubled.

Golden-armored warriors lined up to welcome them, while court ladies led the way with lanterns… As night fell, Colombian tourist Natalia followed the crowd to the Cultural and Ceremonial Square at the South Gate of Xi'an City Wall, with English announcements playing in her ears. “The performance was wonderful; it gave me a sense of the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty,” Natalia said.

Jiang Qiaolei, vice dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, said that the popularity of "China Cool" reflects that foreign tourists are shifting from traditional "check-in" sightseeing to immersive and in-depth experiences of Chinese history, culture, modern technology and lifestyle. More foreigners are looking forward to understanding a more authentic and tangible China through close contact.

New business models stimulate consumption.

Colorful snacks form a "dream corridor," and more than 70,000 lollipops are used to create a giant portrait... In the "Snack Kingdom," a brand-new immersive snack experience space in Changsha, Hunan, the visually striking scenes attract tourists to take photos and share them with their phones.

"We have gathered over 35,000 kinds of snacks from around the world in a 13,000-square-meter space, creating an exploratory experience that integrates shopping, photo opportunities, and interactive activities. During the summer, we receive an average of over 30,000 visitors per day," said Liang Xiao, a person in charge of Mingming Very Busy Group.

As consumers' demands for personalized, diversified, and high-quality consumption increase, various regions are constantly creating new business formats and scenarios to activate new consumption momentum through business format aggregation and scenario integration.

In Yanbian, Jilin Province, models such as "sports events + cultural tourism" and "sports events + folk customs" are being developed, allowing tourists to enjoy free admission or half-price admission with their "Northeast Super" ticket stubs; Shanghai has launched unique products such as nighttime observation at the Astronomical Museum, creating a new "nighttime" consumption experience for families during the summer; in Changsha, Hunan Province, immersive interactive dramas, small theater stand-up comedy shows, and other performance projects are extremely popular and packed to capacity...

The recently released "15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption" clearly requires "cultivating and creating new forms, models, and scenarios of consumption," and proposes to promote the deepening of technological applications and the strengthening of creative leadership in consumption formats such as retail, culture, tourism, health, and sports, so as to enhance and expand the consumer experience.

"The Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to intensify pilot programs for new forms, models, and scenarios of consumption, creating a number of new consumption scenarios with broad impact and high visibility, so as to create new demand with new supply and activate new consumption with new scenarios," Yan Dong said.

(Source: Economic Information Daily)