3.5 lakh Indians visited China in first half of this year

The number of Indian tourists visiting China is on the rise with over 3.5 lakh visitors in the first half of this year, up 4.2 per cent compared to last year, according to figures released today by China's tourism authority.
The spike in Indian tourists to China came even as India made frantic efforts to get a share of over 100 million Chinese tourists, who visited abroad last year.
China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) announced today that over 3.5 lakh Indian tourists visited China this year as the two countries try to attract each other's tourists and take the number of tourists to over a million.

In a bid to attract more Chinese tourists Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his May visit here has announced e-visa facility for Chinese tourists.
Officials say it is yet to be implemented as the modalities are being worked out.
About 1.75 lakh Chinese visited India last year compared to about six lakh Indians mostly businessmen who visited China.

According to tourism authorities, the two sides have been working together to simplify visa procedures, increase direct flights and improve service levels.
The two sides also aim to develop new travel packages and routes as well as improve communication and coordination to safeguard safety of tourists, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

A recent survey by Hotels.Com said over 107 million Chinese visited abroad last year, a 20 per cent increase compared to 2013.
The survey projected that over 174 million Chinese tourists will go abroad in about four years and expected to spend USD 264 billion.