China will further regulate the order of the outbound tourism market and crack down on fraudulence and human trafficking in the name of tourism, an official at a nation tourism meeting said here Friday.  

Problems including price wars, cheating tourists and leading them to engage in unhealthy activities seriously harm the legal rights of tourists, and damage the image of China's tourism industry, said Zhu Qingrui, a senior official of the China National Tourism Administration.

The administration will enhance supervision over the management of travel agencies which are allowed to organize outbound trips this year. It will also crack down on illegal immigration disguised as tourism, as well as fraudulent tourism-related advertisements in newspapers, said Zhu, who is in charge of the quality of tour services and management.

Currently, more than 500 Chinese travel agencies are allowed to organize trips abroad for Chinese citizens. The administration has pledged to adjust the number according to their performance. A nationwide network will also be launched this year to record the qualifications and credit of travel agency managers and tour guides.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2004)