BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- In Fuyuan, a border city in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a tourist surnamed Sun has spent a week with her family in a recreational vehicle (RV) parked beside the river.
The public campsite in a riverside park offers free parking, round-the-clock water access and nearby toilets. Since June, the number of vehicles using the site has risen about 20 percent from a year earlier, while visitor numbers have climbed nearly 30 percent, according to local officials.
For Sun's family, the riverside stay offers a chance to slow down and enjoy the outdoors without giving up many of the comforts of home. For cities like Fuyuan, meanwhile, the growing number of RV travelers points to a new source of tourism spending -- from fuel and charging to food, supplies, repairs and local services.
RV travel, however, is still relatively uncommon in China. China sold more than 20,000 self-propelled RVs in 2025, surpassing that threshold for the first time, according to a report released by the Motor Homes (Motor Caravans) Committee under the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Even so, RV sales remain a tiny niche compared with the 34.4 million automobiles sold in China that year.
Yet some numbers suggest that the market is beginning to move beyond its niche status.
Sales of camping vehicles designed for shorter trips rose 85.6 percent year on year, while sales of new-energy motorhomes for longer journeys surged 229 percent in 2025, according to industry data. The momentum has continued into this year: 12,153 self-propelled RVs were registered in the first half of 2026, up 32.6 percent year on year.
The vast scale of self-driving travel in China also points to a potential market for RV tourism. If even a small share of those road trips were to shift toward RV travel and camping, it could open up new business opportunities.
In 2024, China recorded 4.35 billion self-driving tourist trips, 750 million more than a year earlier, according to a report by the China Tourism Automobile and Cruise Association (CTACA). The sheer volume suggests a large pool of potential customers for RV travel, particularly as travelers seek new ways to combine road trips with outdoor recreation, leisure and local experiences.
Recognizing the sector's growth potential, China has introduced a range of policy measures, from broad strategic guidance to targeted support programs, to promote the development of RV camping.
China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) calls for developing RV camping as a form of leisure consumption. A separate national plan to expand consumption during the five-year period also highlights automotive aftermarket services, including vehicle rentals and RV camping.
In June, nine government departments issued measures to support RV camping. Three months later, 10 departments followed with further measures targeting bottlenecks ranging from vehicle registration and driving tests to parking, campsite development, rentals and insurance.
Some of the measures target practical barriers to RV ownership and rental. Small and micro non-commercial self-propelled RVs will no longer be subject to a mandatory scrappage age. The permitted service life of small and micro-sized rental self-propelled RVs will be extended from 15 years to 25 years. Local authorities are also encouraged to add more testing sites for the C6 license for light tractor-trailer combinations.
The policy push is also being matched by efforts to build a more RV-friendly travel network. Measures cover road access, parking and campsite services, while allowing simple campsites without paved surfaces to retain their original land classification, making it easier to develop such sites.
The infrastructure is expanding alongside these efforts. China now has more than 3,100 RV campsites of various kinds, according to industry data. In Heilongjiang, a provincial transportation investment group has developed 19 campsite and hotel projects since 2021 as part of a province-wide self-driving travel network. The province has also developed 10 summer self-driving routes designed to bring RV travelers to local restaurants, accommodations and tourist attractions.
Jiangsu Province in east China is pursuing a similar approach. Jiangsu Communications Holding Co., Ltd. is planning 78 RV stops at expressway service areas near major tourist attractions. In Chenji Town, local authorities offered 5 million yuan in RV purchase subsidies in 2025, a program they said helped drive sales of about 500 RVs and generate more than 100 million yuan (14.93 million U.S. dollars) in related spending.
Wang Xiaoqing, vice dean of Hongshan College at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, said the growth of RV travel is creating opportunities not only for vehicle sales, but also for rentals, membership services and tourism operations.
Despite the policy push and infrastructure building, RV travelers and campsite operators still face practical hurdles.
In some cities, RV users have difficulty accessing or parking their vehicles, while drivers of certain tractor-trailer combinations need a separate C6 license. For campsite developers, lengthy procedures for land use and planning approvals can add another layer of difficulty.
The business itself is also proving challenging. According to a CTACA report, the gross profit margin of RV campsites fell to 21 percent in 2024, down from a peak of 45 percent in 2021 and back to the level seen in 2019.
As a result, operators are looking beyond simply charging for parking and accommodation. Many are adding restaurants, study tours, themed events and equipment sales to diversify their income. Campsites near major cities, which can attract repeat weekend visitors, and those linked to established tourist destinations, which benefit from existing visitor flows, are among the models seen as more viable.
For the sector to develop further, some industry observers say the supporting infrastructure and regulatory framework will need to catch up with growing demand.
Wang Hong, director of Shaanxi Hong Zhen Law Firm, said many RV campsites are privately invested and have yet to be fully incorporated into local public infrastructure planning. Simplifying land-use and planning procedures, he said, could help lower the barriers to developing such facilities. ■
