China's tourism now occupies 5.4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), and by 2020, the proportion will reach 11 percent, He Guangwei, director of China's National Tourism Administration, said at a tourism seminar in Beijing Tuesday.

He said that tourism's percentage of the GDP will be six percent in 2005 and eight percent by 2015. Tourism now creates 20.4 billion US dollars worth of foreign currency income and the figure will be 58 billion US dollars worth by 2020.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) did not shake the foundation of China's rapid tourism development, he said, and neither China's overall economic growth nor its opening up policy was changed.

With rich tourism resources, China's goal of making itself a powerful tourism nation has not changed, Jiang Weixin, deputy director of the State Development and Reform Commission, said at the seminar.

Li Jingwen, a senior researcher with both the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that China remains a hot spot for world investment and its development has provided a material, economic base as well as an economic environment for tourism.

China's transportation environment has been improved in recent years, which provides good conditions for tourism, he said, adding that from a long-term view, China's tourism will not be changed by unexpected issues.

Since the country's reform and opening-up, Chinese people have more money for tourism. Meanwhile, some 100 million overseas tourists came and spent money here. That greatly increased China’s foreign currency revenue, said Chen Huai, an expert with the Development Research Center of the State Council.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2003)