Shanghai has recently seen a spike in international visits as the nation extended its visa-free policies for nine more countries, including South Korea, in November.

The city's most well-known commercial malls and streets have been crowded with consumers from South Korea, Japan, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, according to senior management of various malls.

"The number of foreign tourists at the Shanghai Super Brand Mall has increased by more than 30 percent compared to the same period in 2023," said Zhou Jiaxuan, the CEO of Charoen Pokphand Group's commercial real estate innovation division.

Located at the bustling East Nanjing Road, the Shanghai No 1 Shopping Center is also seeing a surge in international tourists, particularly its food chain enterprises, such as Long Time Ago and Haidilao, specialized, respectively, in lamb barbecue and hot pot.

"Since the end of last year, international consumers, led by Koreans, increased by about 60 percent compared to the average number before that," said Hu Zhenjiang, the manager of Long Time Ago at the mall.

Hu added that customers are lining up almost from the beginning to the end of business at his restaurant.

"We served 100 to 150 Koreans daily since January, accounting for about 15 percent of our customers," said Mu Huafei, the manager of Haidilao at the mall.