TOURISM is now the most rapidly growing trade sector in China's service industry. Both international and domestic tourism are expanding in tandem.

　　Shen Huirong, director of the Tourism Promotion and International Liaison Department of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), made the comment during the China International Travel Mart 2004 (CITM) that ended November 28 in Shanghai.

　　Nearly 10,000 contracts were signed during the four-day CITM, which attracted 45,000 visitors and buyers from 48 countries. CNTA officials held 13 minister-level talks with foreign counterparts.

　　China now receives nearly 100 million tourists each year, reaping US$20 billion in foreign exchange revenues, Shen said.

　　Inbound tourists to China hit 89.79 million in the first 10 months of this year, up 20.3 per cent year-on-year while China's outbound travellers increased 49.8 per cent to 23.84 million.

　　China earned US$19.26 billion from its travel industry in the period, a rise of 37.5 per cent.

　　By 2020, China expects the number of overseas visitors to reach 210 million a year, with revenues from overseas tourism reaching US$58 billion to become the world's top tourism destination.

　　Shen said that by the end of this year, a total of 63 countries and regions will have received approved destination status and opened to Chinese tourists.

　　The lucrative tourist industry also attracted significant foreign investment - US$50 billion so far, or 11 per cent of the total overseas capital the nation got. Foreign tourism giants like Gullivers Travel Associates of London, which was the first foreign agency to handle Chinese domestic tourism, have set up company or joint venture agencies in China.

　　In spite of a demand for travel to European Union countries, which were opened early this year, popular Southeast Asian destinations are working to lure Chinese travellers. Thailand is promoting their plastic-surgery service, which combines leisure and plastic surgery treatment.

　　CITM has become the largest international tourism fair in Asia, with high professional standards and the most widespread global influence, Shen said.

　　The annual fair started in 2001 and has been held in Shanghai and Kunming of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.