China also invested more than one trillion yuan (USD 120 billion) in the sector last year, an increase of 42 per cent from one year earlier, Li Jinzao, head of China National Tourism Administration, said at the ongoing First World Conference on Tourism for Development.
Its spending in the tourism sector will continue to increase and is likely to triple to three trillion yuan (USD 460 billion) by 2020.
Li expects the number of outbound travellers which is currently around 120 million to exceed 600 million in the next five years.