Foreign youngsters’ rising enthusiasm for touring China while learning Mandarin boosts China’s inbound tourism, China News reported on Dec. 23.

Statistics released by China’s National Tourism Administration shows that China received 69.5 million inbound tourists in the first half of this year, 7.47 million more than outbound tourists, indicating China’s inbound tourism is shifting toward a sustained growth.

Against such a background, China’s tourism giant Ctrip works with Chinese Testing International Co., Ltd (CTI) to develop Sinology and related tourism products and organize overseas Chinese learners to travel to China.

It is an important part of Ctrip’s systematic layout of the inbound tourism market, said Zhong Qiang, a director of Ctrip, adding that through this cooperation, Ctrip hopes to attract more foreign visitors to China.

In addition, CTI will offer customized tour packages for Chinese learners, in compliance with the global demand for Mandarin and the Belt and Road Initiative to cater to their interest in Chinese culture, Zhang Yuan, deputy general manager of CTI, noted.