The tourism sector in China contributed 10.8 per cent to GDP last year and created 10.2 per cent of new jobs in the world's second biggest economy.
China also invested more than one trillion yuan (USD 120 billion) in the sector last year, an increase of 42 per cent from one year earlier, Li Jinzao, head of China National Tourism Administration, said at the ongoing First World Conference on Tourism for Development.
Its spending in the tourism sector will continue to increase and is likely to triple to three trillion yuan (USD 460 billion) by 2020.
Li expects the number of outbound travellers which is currently around 120 million to exceed 600 million in the next five years.
Li said China plans to send 150 million travellers to countries along the One Belt and One Road project in the next five years, whose travelling spending is likely to top USD 200 billion, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
