Beijing: China earned $850 billion from tourism in 2017, an increase of 15.1 percent, the China Tourism Academy said Tuesday, according to Xinhua news agency.
Chinese tourists made 5 billion domestic trips and 131 million trips abroad in 2017, up 12.8 percent and 7 percent respectively, according to the academy's latest data.
Last year saw 139 million inbound trips, a rise of 0.8 percent from 2016, of which 75 percent were from Asia.
The industry contributed 9.13 trillion yuan to GDP, accounting for 11 percent of economic output, preliminary data showed.
The sector created 80 million jobs or 10.28 percent of the country's employed population.
China is the world's largest source of outbound tourists and the fourth largest destination for inbound tourists.
