FOREIGN travelers made 30.54 million trips to China in 2018, a 4.7 percent increase than that of 2017, according to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Travelers stayed at least one night in China on 23.64 million of the trips, a growth of 5.2 percent than the figure of 2017, said a post on the ministry’s website Tuesday.

It said foreign travelers spent US$73.1 billion on their trips in China last year, 5.1 percent more than the amount in 2017.

The Republic of Korea, Japan, the United States, Malaysia and Singapore were among China’s 10 largest source markets of tourism in 2018, according to the ministry.

China offers a 24-hour visa-free transit to eligible international travelers, while people of 53 nationalities can enjoy a 144-hour visa-free transit through a number of cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shijiazhuang and Shenyang.

The country’s southernmost island province of Hainan, which offered a 15-day visa-free stay for group tourists from over 20 countries for years, started to allow group and individual visitors from 59 countries to travel there visa-free and stay for up to 30 days under certain conditions in May last year.

China’s tourism revenue rose by 10.5 percent year on year to 5.97 trillion yuan (US$856.5 billion) in 2018, with over 79.9 million people working in tourism and related industries.

(Xinhua)