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China Becomes Major Tourism Country in Asia
China's tourism industry has developed rapidly and the country has become a tourism giant in Asia after 20 years' reform and opening up to the world, said He Guangwei, director of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
He made the remarks at the ongoing international conference for sustainable tourism on the islands of the Asia-Pacific region opened December 6 in Sanya, the southernmost city of Hannan Province.
In 1999, the number of tourists visiting China surpassed 72 million person times, including more than 27 million person times of tourists staying over night in China, ranking 5th in the world. The profit from tourism reached US$14.1 billion, ranking 7th in the world.
Domestic tourism business also witnessed a rapid development and it became new hotspot of consumption. In 1999, the number of domestic tourists topped 0.72 billion person times, and income from domestic tourism was RMB280 billion. The gross income from international and domestic tourism totaled RMB 400.2 billion, or 5% of the GDP.
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