Tourism has now become one of the main non-trade channels to bring foreign currency income for China, said He Guangwei, Director of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

China's tourism developed rapidly after the reform and opening-up policy in 1978. China reaped its first US$10 billion foreign currency income in 1996, and gained US$20 billion in 2002. According to the government plan, China will become the world's biggest tourist destination by 2020, with foreign currency income reaching US$58 billion, he said at the West China International Tourism Development Forum.

Over the past 26 years, China has received one billion inbound travelers, with 20 percent annual growth on average. The overall foreign currency income reached US$164 billion in the period.

In the first half of 2004, China's tourism recovered smoothly from last year's SARS influence. From January to July, China hosted 61 million inbound travelers, and gained US$12.7 billion foreign currency income, up 24 percent and 45 percent respectively compared with the same period of 2003.

He said China has become the world's biggest domestic tourism consumption market and the fastest growing tourism source nation. In 2003, China's outbound travelers reached 20.2 million, surpassing Japan for the first time and topping all of Asia. China is on its way to becoming one of the world's most powerful tourism nations, He said.

(CNTA.com September 20, 2004)