China on Saturday reported sharp increases in the number of foreign tourists and tourism dollars in the first 11 months in 2004, jumping by around 20 percent and 50 percent year-on-year, respectively.

"The numbers of inbound tourists and foreign tourists in the January-November period both exceeded the total numbers for the whole year in 2002," an official with the National Tourism Administration said.

China netted US$23.5 billion in tourist revenue in the first 11 months, representing an increase of 49.61 percent compared with the corresponding time in 2003, he said.

The country received inbound tourists of 99.14 million in the 11 months, 19.6 percent more than the same time in the previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2005)