CHINA: 20m Tourists Visit China Annually

No fewer than 20 million tourists visit China annually a Chinese official has said.

Huang Youyi, the Executive Vice President of the Translators Association of China, said this in Beijing at the ongoing 2016 Seminar Course for Information Officers and Journalists from English-speaking African countries.

Delivering a lecture entitled: “China’s National Conditions and Cultural Traditions,” Huang said the figures had remained constant over the years.

He, however, added that majority of the tourists were locals from China, travelling within the country.
He said: “The total number of tourists in China for the 2015 National Holiday was 750 million, more than half of the entire population.

“You have local tourists visiting different attraction sites during the holidays.”

Huang also added that the country had become the world’s number one tourists’ destination.

He said: “In 2012, China became world’s number one source of tourists.

“In 2015, at least 120 million people travelled overseas as tourists and spent $215 billion.

“The forecast for five years is that 400 million people will travel overseas and China’s overseas investment will hit $500 billion.”

Huang said the domestic tourism contributed about 10 per cent to the total Gross Domestic Product of the country.
Huang also said that tourism preserved and promoted the Chinese historical heritage.