China’s flagging economy gets a temporary boost as holiday travel returns to pre-pandemic levels

Tourism in China bounced back to pre-pandemic levels during a recent eight-day national holiday, giving a temporary boost to the nation’s flagging economy.

The government said that tourism revenues reached about 753 billion yuan ($103 billion) during the combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period that ended Friday, a rise of 1.5% over 2019 and 130% compared to last year when pandemic restrictions were still in place.

China maintained locked-downs and other restrictions much longer than most other countries, enforcing a “zero-COVID” policy until last December. But a hoped-for consumer spending boom after the lifting of restrictions hasn’t materialized, as many Chinese remain cautious with an unfolding real estate crisis…