China earned 5.4 trillion yuan (850 billion U.S. dollars) from tourism in 2017, an increase of 15.1 percent, the China Tourism Academy said Tuesday.

Chinese tourists made 5 billion domestic trips and 131 million overseas trips in 2017, up 12.8 percent and 7 percent respectively, according to the latest analytical report released by the academy.

Last year saw 139 million inbound trips, a rise of 0.8 percent from 2016, of which 75 percent were from Asia.

Preliminary data showed the industry contributed 9.13 trillion yuan to GDP, accounting for 11 percent of economic output.

Tourism created 80 million jobs, or 10.28 percent of the country's employed population.

Some 385 million Chinese are expected to travel around during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday which will span from February 15 to 21, representing an increase of 12 percent, the report estimated.

Domestic tourism revenue is projected to increase by 12.5 percent to 476 billion yuan during the holiday.

Southern coastal and island resorts, such as Sanya and Xiamen, and snow and ski resorts top of the list of destinations.

China has increasingly looked to the tourism industry to boost its economy which is in a transition from investment and trade to service and consumption.

China is the world's largest source of outbound tourists and the fourth largest destination for inbound tourists.

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