ROSES GIVEN, FRAGRANCE IN HAND: THE BACK-FEEDING EFFECT AND MECHANISM OF FOREIGN AID ON CHINA'S INBOUND TOURISM

WANG Juan; WEI Rong-jie; ZHANG Huan

doi:10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.05.016

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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (5) : 173-180. DOI: 10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.05.016

TOURISM

ROSES GIVEN, FRAGRANCE IN HAND: THE BACK-FEEDING EFFECT AND MECHANISM OF FOREIGN AID ON CHINA'S INBOUND TOURISM

WANG Juan^1,2, WEI Rong-jie¹, ZHANG Huan¹

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Abstract

Foreign aid facilitates multi-level interactions and mutual benefits between donor and recipient countries within the framework of international investment and trade. China's foreign aid has contributed to poverty alleviation in developing countries and fostered innovations in the international aid architecture, building a positive national reputation and a conducive soft environment for international tourism cooperation. But few studies explore the back-feeding effect of foreign aid on donor countries, and even fewer focus on the development of tourism in donor countries. Therefore, using data on China's foreign aid and inbound tourism from 102 recipient countries during 2005-2019, this study empirically examines the effects and mechanisms of foreign aid's back-feeding on China's inbound tourism. The results reveal that: 1) Foreign aid significantly enhances inbound tourism growth, exhibiting both short-term and long-term effects, with the former manifesting rapidly and the latter accumulating progressively. 2) China's foreign aid influences inbound tourism through national reputation, investment and trade linkages, and infrastructure development. Among these, the effect of infrastructure development is the most pronounced, while national reputation is relatively the smallest. 3) Heterogeneity test reveals that among recipient countries along the "Belt and Road", those with a lower level of economic development and larger aid allocations exhibit a stronger positive effect. These findings broaden the evaluative dimensions of foreign aid and offer policy-relevant insights for diversifying China's inbound tourism markets and stimulating inbound tourism consumption.

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foreign aid / inbound tourism / tourism service trade / back-feeding effect

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WANG Juan, WEI Rong-jie, ZHANG Huan. ROSES GIVEN, FRAGRANCE IN HAND: THE BACK-FEEDING EFFECT AND MECHANISM OF FOREIGN AID ON CHINA'S INBOUND TOURISM[J]. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY. 2026, 41(5): 173-180 https://doi.org/10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.05.016

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