Revenues associated with tourism by Chinese travellers increased by 12.4 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2016; to 2.25 trillion yuan (US$346 billion), China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) announced this week.

Domestic tourists made 2.24 billion trips in the first half, an increase of 10.5 percent. Inbound and outbound trips edged up 4.1 percent to 127 million, CNTA said, as quoted by Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

In 2015, China tourism contributed 10.8 percent of the country’s GDP, CNTA said. The activity created 10.2 percent of the total of new jobs created last year in China.

CNTA announced in May that China’s spending in the tourism sector would likely triple by 2020, to 3 trillion yuan. In 2015, China invested 1 trillion yuan in the sector, Xinhua said.