More than 8.52 million Chinese in the mainland have made overseas tours during the first three months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 16.33 percent, according to the National Tourism Administration (NTA).

"It seems the prediction made by World Tourism Organization that China would become the world's fourth biggest tourist source nation by 2020 is coming true," said Sun Gang, NTA's deputy director at a workshop on Sino-Japanese culture and tourism promotion held Saturday in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

So far, 124 nations and regions have become tourist destinations for the mainland Chinese citizens, providing wide choices for Chinese to taste exotic natural sceneries and cultures, said Sun.

More than 31 million Chinese traveled abroad and another 120 million made tours in the country last year, making China one of the largest tourist "exporters" and tourism destinations in the world, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2006)