China's unpatriotic consumers

As a share of China’s overall economy, domestic consumption has been on a declining trend for the past few years. At the same time, the country’s outbound tourists are increasingly spending more overseas.

Last year, Chinese shoppers spent Rmb300 billion $47.5 billion on goods in overseas markets through China UnionPay, China’s national debit card system. That was a 66.7% jump from the Rmb180 billion spent in 2010, according to Su Ning, chairman of UnionPay.

Su, who is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said at the National People’s Congress that Chinese shoppers spent more than ever on overseas purchases in 2011, based...