A China Tourism Evening, a promotional event, was held in Olando, a city in the south of the US, on Tuesday evening. Shao Qiwei, director of China's National Tourism Administration, said the number of American tourists who visited China was 1.56 million in 2005, up 19 percent from 2004, making the US China's largest source of long-distance tourism.

Approximately 530,000 Chinese visited America last year, an increase of 20 percent, and the US has become the sixth largest overseas tourist destination for Chinese.

The evening was a showcase for Chinese tourism, attended by representatives from the travel industry in the US and the world.

The Chinese economy has developed rapidly and the booming tourism industry has become of increasing economic importance since China implemented a policy of reform and opening-up to the outside world.

The number of tourists to China reached 4.681 million people in 2005, the fourth most popular destination in the world, said Shao.

Tourism cooperation and exchange between China and the US has a big future. Over two million people traveled between the two countries last year.

William Maloney, CEO of the Tourism Agency Association, said China is becoming the most important tourist destination for American citizens and more tourists are expected to go to China in the future.

By People's Daily Online