Flight of the capital

Employees of Tiens Group enjoy themselves during their stay in Nice, south of France. Photo provided to China Daily

Business travel

China's business travel expenditure jumped from $32 billion in 2000 to $225 billion in 2013, according to Global Business Travel Association, an industry body from the United States. The country's market for business travel maintained a 16 percent annual growth rate since 2000, and will likely become the biggest worldwide in the future, it says.

The market is expected to see a growth of 16-17 percent this year, according to a 2014 report by China's largest online travel agency Ctrip.

An increasing number of foreign businesses have set up branches in China, which grows the business travel market, says Fang Jiqin, CEO of Ctrip's business travel division.

"Foreign companies spend more on international tickets and hotels than their Chinese counterparts," Fang says.

Meng Wei, an engineer with a Fortune Global 500 company in Beijing, has become a regular guest at high-end hotels in major Chinese cities, including Sheraton and JW Marriott Hotel. Many top foreign companies in China want to make their employees comfortable, especially while on business trips.

The engineer has a daily accommodation budget of up to 1,000 yuan ($161). A night at many four-or five-star hotels which have business links with his company costs around 700 yuan.

"Approximately 85 percent of guests are from foreign-invested companies or joint ventures," says Liang Xue, assistant communications manager at the Kerry Hotel in Beijing.

By comparison, Chinese companies might have stricter rules governing expenses for business travel, but their global expansion is also considered a major force that's bolstering the business travel market, according to AirPlus International, a business-travel consultancy in Germany.

There's also a growth in business travel management companies. In China, for instance, the central government's anti-graft campaign has prompted many State-owned entities to hire the services of such companies for internal audits and related issues.

At present, international travel management companies, such as Hogg Robinson Group and Carlson Wagonlit Travel, have made their presence felt in China.

Domestic travel management companies are also catching up in a big way.

Ctrip announced its expansion into business travel in 2006, and its business travel management arm raked in 8.1 billion yuan in trade volumes last year, up 40 percent from the previous year. The company is now managing travel for more than 5,000 large-scale companies, including 100 Fortune Global 500 ones.

Chinese companies can get access to better resources, thanks to their long-term relations with airline companies and hotels, and can better understand the travel habits of Chinese people, says Fang.