Many foreign countries are eagerly trying to attract the millions of Chinese people traveling overseas each year and the money they spend.

Among them is Australia, which was given a boost in 1999 after signing the Approved Destination Status (ADS) document with China.

Based on the strength of the agreement and the barriers it removes, Australia's minister for small business and tourism says he expects the number of inbound Chinese to his country to reach 1 million in 2013, accounting for 12 percent of the total.

"The number of Chinese tourists visiting Australia is growing rapidly, and is the fastest growing market for Australia," said Joe Hockey, who is in Beijing to further strengthen the ADS arrangement between the two nations.

ADS largely simplifies the exit procedures for Chinese tourists -- they are able to use ordinary passports and apply for tourist visas when wanting to visit an ADS country.

The number of Chinese tourists to Australia has increased by up to 30 percent per annum in recent years.

In 2002, 190,000 Chinese visitors traveled to Australia, representing 4 percent of all of its inbound tourism. It was the first country to be granted ADS status by China.

During President Hu Jintao's visit down under last week, another agreement was signed to expand the coverage of Australia's ADS to include the Tianjin and Chongqing municipalities and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei provinces.

Prior to that only Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong Province were open to ADS travel.

Hockey said: "I am here to discuss the operation of the agreement. ADS has been an important contributor to the growth in tourist travel from China to Australia, and we look forward to expanding the coverage in the near future."

Australia is among the many destinations witnessing what Chinese visitors can do for their tourism industries.

So far, China has granted ADS status to 35 countries and regions, including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Germany, Egypt, South Africa and India.

Hanns P. Nerger, president of the Berlin Tourism Marketing Co, said after Germany was granted ADS status last year, the number of Chinese tourists naturally increased. "The momentum is expected to continue."

At the current growth rate, he predicts the number of inbound Chinese to surpass the volume of Japanese visitors, making China its second-biggest overseas tourism source.

Over 20,000 Chinese traveled to Germany last year, up 14.1 percent over the previous year.

Besides Germany, the European Union (EU) hopes the Chinese Government will grant ADS status to all EU nations.

They have been in discussions with the government in the hope of attracting a larger slice of the outbound Chinese market as soon as possible.

The ADS issue will be high on the agenda during Thursday's EU-China Summit when the leaders from both sides will meet.

Lu Renbo, an expert from the Development Research Centre of the State Council, said: "China's fast expanding overseas tourism growth has propelled the global economy. The increased number of Chinese tourists has not only exported economic benefits, but also promoted cultural exchanges. For many of these countries, China's prosperity is a good opportunity."

The World Tourism Organization predicts China will become the fourth largest outbound tourism source by 2020.

Over 16 million Chinese people went abroad last year, up 36.8 percent year-on-year.

(China Daily October 28, 2003)