China received 20.8 million overseas tourists during the first three months of this year, up 8.7 percent compared with the same period last year.

The number of foreign tourists increased 12.5 percent to 2.3 million, according to the latest statistics from China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

Foreign currency income reached 3.93 billion US dollars during the period, up 11.6 percent.

The number of tourists from many countries reported two-digit growth, including Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Singapore.

Sun Gang, vice director of CNTA predicted that the coming May Day holiday will help promote the tourism market.

(People’s Daily 04/19/2001)