KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia has seen increased arrivals of Chinese tourists in the first half of 2019, according to official data released on Friday, as officials said they will strengthen promotion to attract more Chinese tourists.

Speaking at a press conference on the performance of Malaysia's tourism sector, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Mohamaddin Ketapi said the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Malaysia increased by 4.9 percent to 13.35 million in the first six months this year from 12.73 million in the corresponding period of last year.

Of the top tourist sources, China was the largest contributor outside of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

According to the data released by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, tourist arrival from mainland China from January to June recorded at 6.4 percent increase to more than 1.56 million, ranking third only behind Singapore and Indonesia.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Musa Yusof, who was also present at the press conference, said the trend for Chinese tourists was positive following the efforts carried out to promote the year 2020 as the Malaysia-China tourism and cultural year.