The peaceful development of China will help increase its competitiveness on international tourist market, said Shao Qiwei, director of the China National Tourism Administration, at its annual tourism conference held here on Friday.

With growing international exchanges, prosperous economic growth and stable social development, China has become a safe travel destination, he said.

In the first half of 2005, China received 58.3 million overseas travelers, up 13.38 percent from the previous year. The arrivals of foreigners were 9.62 million, up 28.78 percent. The tourist earnings in the first six months came to 14.2 billion US dollars, up 21.41 percent compared with last year's same period.

Shao said China has kept expanding political, economic and cultural exchanges with other countries, which will greatly stimulate the tourism industry. Through years of growth, China's tourism already has a certain scale.

In upcoming five years, he said, development of tourism in Europe and the United States will slow down, while the growth of China and other east Asian Pacific nations will maintain a rising momentum.

According to the World Tourism Organization, by 2020, China will become the world's biggest tourist destination and the fourth largest source of tourists.

Source: Xinhua