Air China will launch more international routes this year, linking China with Europe and North America to meet rising demand for outbound tourism.

From May this year, the airline will launch five new international routes including flights between Beijing and Zurich, Shanghai and Barcelona, and Shenzhen and Los Angeles, according to Air China.

Thanks to relaxed visa policies and rising disposable income, the number of China's outbound tourists has continued to grow over the past decade.

During this year's Spring Festival peak travel period, people in China made 6.15 million overseas trips, up 7 percent from last year.

China had the world's largest number of outbound tourists in 2015. About 120 million Chinese traveled overseas in 2015, up from 109 million the previous year, according to data from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

It was an increase of 19.5 percent year on year and nearly 13 times the level in 1998, said the CNTA.

The CNTA predicted that over 600 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad in the next five years.

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