Beijing received 115,100 overseas tourists in January, up 14.39 percent over the same month last year, a historic record for January in any year, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

The Beijing Tourism Bureau said that of the overseas tourists, 13,300 are from Hong Kong and Macao.

The bureau said in a report that the number of tourists from Asia rose 51.97 percent in January, the highest monthly growth rate since 1999. The number of tourists from Japan rose 32.2 percent to 19,400 in January.

Another reason is that the signing of the Sino-U.S. agreement on China's entry to the World Trade Organization has boosted investors' confidence in China and many companies hold their annual meetings and receptions in Beijing.