Tourism is booming in China, the blindingly obvious.

The number of overseas tourists to China and tourist foreign exchange revenue in 2004 were 60 times and 100 times the figures, respectively, in 1978 when China's reform and opening up began, Wang Jun, vice president of China Tourism Association, said yesterday.

He made the statement at the International Conference on the New Asia-Europe Continent Bridge. The conference opened yesterday in Xuzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

The country received 41.76 million overseas tourists in 2004, ranking fourth worldwide, and it raked in US$25.7 billion in tourist foreign exchange revenue, ranking seventh globally.

The country reported 1.1 billion domestic tourists in 2004, ranking first among Asian countries in terms of tourists and resources.

China is transforming from a leading tourist destination to a leading tourist resources country, said Wang.

The World Tourism Organization predicted China would become the top tourist destination and the fourth leading country with abundant tourist resources in 2020, said Wang.

The areas along the New Asia-Europe Continent Bridge abound in promising tourist resources, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency)