Tourism authorities have anticipated an even bigger tourism market this year. In addition to the booming domestic market, the number of passengers travelling abroad is also set to grow rapidly, as the State Council recently approved 22 countries and regions as destinations for Chinese tourists.

The latest statistics from the National Tourism Administration indicate that tourism revenue last year reached 499.5 billion yuan (US$60.18 billion), an increase of 10.5 per cent compared with the previous year.

This revenue included foreign-currency earnings of US$17.8 billion from overseas tourists, and income of 352.2 billion yuan (US$42.5 billion) from domestic tourism.

Experts attributed the continued growth in tourism to the government's supportive policies and the country's stable, safe situation.

New visa policies were implemented last year to make things more convenient for foreign tourists coming to China.

Foreigners can visit Shanghai for up to two days or stay in South China's Hainan Province for up to 15 days without the need for a Chinese visa.

A large amount of funding has also gone to improving the tourism infrastructure. Last year, 145 large and medium-sized airports were built and at least 100 airports in western regions were expanded or rebuilt. All these measures played an important role in attracting overseas tourists, according to a document issued by the administration.

The September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States caused a depression in the world economy and tourism industry, but China was hardly affected - rather, it remained one of the safest tourist destinations, said the administration.

The Chinese mainland received 89 million overseas visitors last year - a growth of 6.7 per cent compared with the previous year.

The total comprised 11.23 million foreign tourists, 58.57 million from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 15.78 million from the Macao Special Administrative Region and 3.44 million from Taiwan.

(China Daily February 26, 2002)