South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region launched a crackdown on tourism malpractice along its border with Vietnam on Tuesday.

The crackdown this month targets cheats, negligence and defaults on payments by travel agencies.

Offenders face fines or having their business operations suspended.

Guangxi and Vietnam share a 1,020-km land border. Tourism alongthis border has boomed in recent years and currently 96 travel agencies in Guangxi, one third of the region's total, handle tourism across the border.

Some 3 million people crossed this border in 2001, bringing in a total of 1 billion yuan (about 120.5 million US dollars) in tourism revenue to Guangxi.

( Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2002)