LONDON, Nov.3(People's Daily Online) -- China shows the highest growth of expenditure on travel abroad in the first six months of 2014, according to United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) on Monday.

China ranks number one of the top ten tourism source markets in the world with a growth of 16 per cent in the first half year of 2014, while the figures of France and Italy are 10 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

“There was a major shift in the source market last year with China containing number one sender of tourists all over the world. There was about 98 million Chinese spending 128 billion U.S.D.in 2013. That was a 26 per cent growth over the year before,” said the Secretary-General of UNWTO Taleb Rifai.

“Up until 2012, Germany was number one,” he added.

Rifai said that one of the reasons that China’s tourism source has grown so fast is that the whole size of population in China supplies a huge potential of growth.

Furthermore, the growing middle class in China is constantly building up the ability to travel.

Besides, the connectivity of China makes it possible for Chinese people to travel abroad. As Rifai mentioned that “every airport in the world connects to some airports in China”.

Rifai commented: “The Chinese government has been taking good position of this. ”

“The minister of China’s Tourism Department told me that China knows that Europeans are going to travel to China less because of the economic situation in Europe that their ability to spending is more limited, but in return, we will even increase the number of Chinese going abroad. The More Chinese travel abroad, the better to China. ”

Rifai explained that China believes when Europe become better, there would be more travelers going to China.

In 2013, China is the fourth biggest destination for international travelers.

Visa issue has always been the key point of international travelling, and the growing tourism consumption has already helped to simplify the visa application procedure for Chinese people.

Even though Chinese people are still part of the 66 per cent of the world population who still suffer the complicated visa application procedure to travel internationally.

“It is not a good news, but the good news is that only 5 years ago, the figure was 72 per cent. Which means that we still live in a complicated world when it comes to visa, but we are doing great progresses, ” said Rifai.