The National Tourism Administration of China intends to open its first office in Latin America in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, Diário Comércio Indústria e Serviços reports.

The website of the Brazilian newspaper quotes National Tourism Administration of China Deputy Director for International Marketing and Co-operation Feng Litao as saying so. The official told a press conference in Beijing that the opening date for the office had yet to be set.

The report says the purpose of the office is to promote tourism by Latin Americans in China, where domestic tourists are the source of most of the money made by the tourism industry.

UN World Tourism Organization data indicate that the annual number of foreigners visiting China grew by 3.8 percent to 138 million in 2016, the newspaper says.