China has become the world's largest outbound tourism market and the world's fourth largest tourist destination, China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) revealed at a press conference on Dec 26, thepaper.cn reported. The topic of the conference was tourism development during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (hereafter referred to as the Plan).

Tourism has become a pillar of China's national economy. In 2015, China's tourism industry accounted for 10.8 percent of the national economy. Data from CNTA shows that in 2015, China's total tourism revenue reached 4.13 trillion yuan, and tourists took 4 billion domestic trips, along with 117 million trips abroad. China attracted 134 million inbound travelers, and tourism foreign exchange earnings amounted to about $113.65 billion.

The Plan stressed steady growth, aiming to achieve an annual increase of 10 percent in the number of tourist trips, 11 percent in total tourism revenue and 14 percent in direct tourism investment.

The main objectives of the Plan also include improved efficiency, public satisfaction and an increase in international influence. The tourism sector will contribute 12 percent to the national economy, as well as 85 percent to catering, accommodation, civil aviation and railway passenger transportation. Each year, 1 million new jobs will be created in the tourism sector, according to the Plan.