Japan hopes to attract more Chinese tourists by developing more routes and destinations, according to the source from Japan National Tourism Office Beijing representative office.

Last year, group tourism visas issued by the Japanese government were expanded throughout China. Some 650,000 people from the Chinese mainland visited Japan in 2005, lagging behind from the Republic of Korea, with 1.75 million and from Taiwan region, with 1.27 million. The Japanese government hoped to carry out more activities in order to attract Chinese visitors.

In 2005, the number of inbound foreign tourists to Japan increased 9.6 percent compared with the previous year to 6.73 million visitors, a new record.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2006)