Southwest China's Sichuan Province, best known for being the home of the endangered giant panda, is determined to become a tourism giant by 2010.

Liu Jie, director of Sichuan Provincial Tourism Bureau, said tourism revenue contributed just 7.8 percent to the province's gross domestic product at present.

"The rate will go up to 10 percent by 2005 and beyond 15 percent by 2010," said Liu.

The province hoped to host 86.67 million tourist arrivals this year and to rake in 48 billion yuan (US$5.78 billion) in tourism revenue, up 14 percent from last year.

Sichuan abounded in tourism resources, including Mount Emei, picturesque Jiuzhaigou, Leshan Grand Buddha, and Sanxingdui Site. The humid and mild climate were good for the growth of arrow bamboo -- the staple food for giant pandas -- and had turned the region into an ideal natural habitat for giant pandas.

Sichuan has made painstaking efforts to improve infrastructure for tourism and had made great progress, said Liu.

The province had 84.49 million tourist arrivals last year and chalked up 42.08 billion yuan (US$5.07 billion) in tourism revenue, up 10.7 percent from 2002.

(Shanghai Daily January 13, 2004)