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China received large numbers of visitors from overseas in
2002 despite the sluggish tourism market worldwide. China's tourism market
continued to lead the world. The gross income from tourism in the year
surpassed 550 billion yuan, up 10.7 percent over 2001, higher than the
growth rate of the national economy.
 China
received 97.91 million visitors from overseas in 2002, up 10 percent over
the previous year. Of all visitors to China, 13.44 million were foreigners,
up 19.7 percent, and 84.47 million were Chinese compatriots from Hong
Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up 8.6 percent. Of all the tourists from overseas,
36.8 million stayed in China for at least one night, up 11 percent. Income
of foreign exchange from international tourism reached $20.4 billion,
up 14.6 percent. The number of domestic tourists increased 12 percent
to reach 877.82 million in the year. The income from domestic tourism
rose 10.1 percent to reach 387.8 billion yuan.
 People
arriving at and departing from China numbered 228 million. According to
sources from the Ministry of Public Security, more than 228.27 million
people arrived at or departed from China through the ports of frontier
inspection, up 13 percent and maintaining growth for the 13th consecutive
year. Among people arriving at and departing from China in 2002, more
than 200 million were tourists, including 32.9 million Chinese mainlanders
and overseas Chinese, 161.3 million Hong Kong and Macao residents, 7.27
million Taiwan residents and 26.79 million foreigners. A total of 16.6
million Chinese mainlanders went abroad in the year 2002, up 36.8 percent
over the previous year, including 10.06 million for private visits, up
44.9 percent. Their destinations included 235 countries and regions, with
the top 10 listed as: China's Hong Kong, China's Macao, Japan, Russia,
Thailand, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Singapore, Viet Nam
and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Foreign visitors to China
numbered 13.43 million. They came from 238 countries and regions, with
the top 10 listed as: Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the United
States, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Mongolia, Thailand and the
United Kingdom.
Restrictions on the accommodation of foreigners were lifted
in Beijing. In the past, foreign visitors to Beijing had to stay in designated
hotels. With the restrictions lifted, foreigners can freely choose where
they stay, even in the homes of local residents. With China's WTO accession
and with Beijing becoming increasingly international, the number of foreign
visitors to Beijing has continued to increase on a yearly basis, which
makes the past regulations outdated. Beijing is developing a hotel management
system, which would network all hotels and the basic data of foreigners
staying in these hotels into a central database. As for foreigners who
want to stay with ordinary local residents, a reporting and filing system
would be formed to facilitate management.
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