(Xinhua Photo)

On Jan. 18 in Beijing, China Tourism Research Institute released the Blue Book of China's tourism economy, with the title Analysis of China Tourism Economic Operations in 2015 and Development forecast for 2016. The Blue Book shows that China received more than 4.1 billion domestic and foreign tourists in 2015, and the total tourism revenue exceeded 4 trillion yuan. Total tourists and revenue increased 10 percent and 12 percent respectively from the previous year.

Tourism investment accelerates the process of globalization

The report notes that China tourism investment has entered a golden age, and is enjoying a strong growth momentum. By 2015, China's annual tourism investment was 1.0072 trillion yuan, increasing 42 percent from the previous year.

Chinese enterprises continue to accelerate the pace of foreign investment in tourism. For instance, Jinjiang Group has become one of the world's largest hotel groups after a series of acquisitions domestically and abroad. Fuhua Group spent over $130 million in the acquisition of Australia Park Hyatt Hotel. Anbang Insurance Corporation acquired Waldorf-Astoria Hotel with $1.95 billion. Wanda Group also began to purchase foreign tourist enterprises and scenic spots. In addition to investments in Asia, Europe and other regions, more investments were made in North America, Oceania and Africa.

China's tourism lifts international influence

The tourism industry has gradually become an important strategic industry for China's external relations. The number of visitors from abroad exceeded 10.3 million. The total number of Sino-US tourism exchanges reached 4.28 million. The communication scales of Sino-Japanese, Sino-Russian, Sino-Indian and Sino-East European relations have been rapidly expanding, which made a positive contribution to Chinese diplomatic relations with those countries.

This article was edited and translated from《去年中国接待游客超41亿》. Source: People's Daily. The author is Zhao Shan.