The latest statistics issued by the China National Tourism Administration indicate that in August 2008, the foreign exchange revenue in the tourism sector of China was USD3.198 billion, a decrease of 15.28% compared to the same month in 2007.

From January through August this year, the total foreign exchange revenue of China went down by 2.21% to USD26.686 billion compared to the same period of last year.

This August, the top ten countries and areas with the largest number of mainland Chinese outbound tourists selected for their first destination were Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the United States, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. For the first eight months of 2008, the number of Chinese outbound tourists totaled 30,674,200, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 15.54%.