DUBAI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The number of Chinese tourists to Dubai rose by 12 percent in 2018 than 2017, Dubai tourism office said in a statement on Sunday.

The number of visitors to Dubai in 2018 hit 15.95 million, up 0.8 percent than 2017, the statement said.

China ranked the fourth year-on-year growth with 875,000 visitors, it said. To increase the number of tourists from China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) relaxed the visa rules.

Indian visitors came on top with over 2 million visiting the Arab city in 2018.

Saudi Arabia came second with 1.6 million tourists.