President Xi Jinping stated that Chinese tourists should be better behaved when travelling abroad. “Our citizens should be educated to behave in a civilized way when travelling abroad. Do not throw water bottles everywhere. Do not damage coral reefs. Eat more sea food and less instant noodles. Spend more to help local economies grow.” said Xi Jinping.

Chinese tourism abroad has grown rapidly, it is reported that 100 million citizens travelled abroad last year, and that number is expected to double by 2020 as individual wealth grows along with the economy.

Yet the awareness of proper manners has not grown as fast as the number of tourists. Some Chinese tourists have been heavily criticized in recent years for misbehaving while travelling abroad, for reasons such as being noisy, jumping queues and damaging cultural relics. Recently, incidents like Chinese tourists drawing graffiti (涂鸦) in an ancient Egyptian temple have severely damaged the image of Chinese holidaymakers.

In response, the Chinese government has made great efforts to educate Chinese tourists on appropriate behaviour when travelling both abroad and within China.