Beijing's attractions are featured in the Best Global Traveler-Picked List. [Photo/Tide News]

Trip.com has launched two new ranking systems to help international travelers discover and plan trips in China, with Hangzhou named among the first cities featured in the Best Global Traveler-Picked List alongside Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'anin Shaanxi province.

The new rankings, unveiled on July 23, include the Trip.Best China Wonder, which highlights China's distinctive travel experiences across 10 categories, and the Best Global Traveler-Picked List, which focuses on destinations and travel experiences favoured by international visitors.

The city-focused list evaluates destinations based on four criteria: Chinese cultural characteristics, popularity among international travelers, traveler reviews and international-friendly services.

It also considers practical factors such as multilingual services, international payment options and transportation accessibility, helping overseas visitors navigate everything from where to stay and what to see to where to eat.

The new rankings come as inbound tourism to China continues to gain momentum. In the first half of 2026, China recorded 22.9 million inbound foreign visitors, up 20.4 percent year-on-year. Of these, 17.8 million entered under visa-free policies, an increase of 30.6 percent. Trip.com data shows that inbound tourism bookings rose 90 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, while bookings from Europe to China for June to August surged 275 percent.

Hangzhou's inclusion comes amid the rapid growth of inbound tourism across Zhejiangprovince. From January to April, Wenzhou recorded 69,067 overnight inbound tourists, up 31.2 percent year-on-yearfrom the previous year, while international flight demand to Yiwu also increased significantly. Zhejiang has meanwhile introduced a range of measures to make travel more convenient for overseas visitors, including upgraded digital tourism services, travel passes and tourism consumption incentives.

The rankings are designed to turn scattered online travel information into a more accessible and bookable guide for international visitors. Trip.com plans to gradually expand the city-focused list to 100 Chinese cities, providing a broader gateway for travelers seeking to explore China.

Beijing's restaurants are featured in the Best Global Traveler-Picked List. [Photo/Tide News]