Data disclosed by the People's Bank of China shows that during this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday period (October 1-8), UnionPay and NetsUnion processed a total of 41.552 billion payment transactions, an increase of 9.523 billion transactions compared to last year's National Day holiday, representing growth of approximately 30%. The total transaction amount reached 13.26 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.86 trillion yuan from last year's National Day holiday, marking growth of approximately 16%.
The data indicates that consumption amounts in dining, shopping, movie-watching, and other sectors all achieved growth, reflecting the vitality of the consumer market during this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday period.
Additionally, Alipay and WeChat Pay also released related payment data, showing significant growth in both transaction volume and amounts for cross-border payments during the dual holiday period, reflecting the continued active economic exchanges between China and the global economy.
During this extended holiday period, dining, tourism, offline retail, and transportation were the most popular consumption sectors for inbound tourists. Alipay platform data shows that in the first five days of the holiday, global inbound tourist spending on Alipay increased nearly 40% compared to the same period last year. Among these, foreign travelers using "Alipay Tap" saw consumption amounts increase 500% year-over-year. WeChat Pay data shows that cross-border transaction volume increased 21% year-over-year in the first five days of the holiday.
According to consumption trends released by Alipay, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia remain popular destinations for Chinese tourists' overseas consumption, while some previously less popular European destinations have become new favorites for Chinese tourists. The top 5 countries where Chinese tourists spent the most using Alipay overseas were: Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. In the "dark horse countries" ranking with the fastest growth in consumption amounts, Greece, Laos, Nepal, Portugal, and Turkey occupied the top five positions.
WeChat's "2025 National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Data Report" shows that total consumption in the first five days of this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday increased 10% compared to this year's May Day holiday. From a consumption scenario perspective, travel and service-related consumption showed significant growth.
The report indicates that self-driving trips with new energy vehicles increased markedly during this extended holiday, with WeChat Pay consumption at new energy vehicle charging stations increasing 43% year-over-year. Purchases of railway and passenger bus tickets through WeChat Pay also grew 21% year-over-year. Sports and fitness consumption transactions increased 16% year-over-year, while beauty and hairdressing spending grew 11% year-over-year. Influenced by "trade-in" policies, digital product consumption amounts increased 11% year-over-year.
Regarding the outbound tourism market, WeChat Pay data shows that cross-border payment transactions in the first five days of the holiday increased 21% year-over-year. Influenced by visa-free policies from South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and other countries, WeChat Pay transactions in South Korea grew 46%, while Singapore transactions increased 32%.
WeChat Mini Program services now cover 92 countries and regions. During this National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, overseas Mini Program transactions in the tourism and dining industries increased over 50% and 30% respectively year-over-year. The daily average transaction amount scale for Chinese tourists through overseas small and medium merchant Mini Programs increased over 70% year-over-year. For inbound tourism, the daily average number of inbound tourists accessing Mini Programs in the first five days of this holiday increased over 60% year-over-year.