China Roundup: Record summer travel, Xi’s governance initiative, booming box office,

China records 11.9 billion domestic travels

China’s Ministry of Transport reported that the country saw 11.9 billion cross-regional trips between July 1 and August 31, averaging 192 million trips daily, up 4.3 percent year-on-year. Road-based self-driving trips accounted for 8.7 billion journeys, or 73 percent of the total, People's Daily reports. Rural self-driving tours surged in popularity, while student travel, tourism, and study tours helped fuel consumption. An official projected that domestic tourism trips this summer would surpass 2.5 billion, with Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an ranking among the top destinations. The rail system set a new summer record with 940 million passenger trips, and civil aviation carried 147 million passengers, a 3.6 percent year-on-year rise. On August 15 alone, flights carried 2.56 million passengers, marking a new single-day high.

President Xi unveils Global Governance Initiative

President Xi Jinping, at the “Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Plus” meeting in Tianjin, proposed a new Global Governance Initiative (GGI) to reshape international cooperation. “I look forward to working with all countries for a more just and equitable global governance system and advancing toward a community with a shared future for humanity,” Xi said. He outlined five guiding principles for the GGI, including sovereign equality, adherence to international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, adopting a people-centered approach, and focusing on concrete action.

China leads the world in nanotechnology patents

A white paper released in Beijing revealed that China holds 43 percent of all nanotechnology patents granted globally over the past 25 years, amounting to 464,000 patents. This surpasses the combined total of the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. The White Paper: China Nanotechnology Industry 2025 highlights key areas of China’s patent portfolio, including semiconductors, catalytic chemistry, biomedicine, and new materials. The Chinese Academy of Sciences topped the global rankings with 23,400 patents. As of May 2025, China had more than 34,500 nanotech enterprises employing nearly 10 million people, with the global market projected to reach $1.5 trillion by year’s end.

China’s summer box office nears 12 billion yuan

The China Film Administration announced that the 2025 summer box office grossed 11.96 billion yuan ($1.68 billion), surpassing last year’s total. More than 100 films were released, drawing 321 million viewers nationwide. The top-grossing film, Dead to Rights - a historical drama on the 1937 Nanjing Massacre - earned 2.89 billion yuan since its July 25 release. Other major hits included animated feature Nobody, Jackie Chan’s crime action film The Shadow’s Edge, the historical drama The Lychee Road, and Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth.  

Chinese Embassy issues warning in South Korea

The Chinese Embassy in South Korea has urged Chinese citizens to avoid carrying offensive weapons in public after South Korea revised its criminal law earlier this year. The embassy noted that carrying knives, hammers, or other potentially dangerous items without a legitimate reason could now result in up to three years’ imprisonment or fines of 10 million won ($7,300). “Chinese citizens in South Korea or those planning to visit the country should avoid carrying objects that could be regarded as offensive weapons in public. If unavoidable, they must be properly concealed to reduce legal risks,” the embassy said in its statement.