Official data indicate that 34,500 Chinese stayed in Portuguese hotels and guesthouses in January, 50.3 percent more than a year earlier.

Figures given by the Portuguese National Statistics Institute show the rate of growth in the number of Chinese guests was faster that the rate of growth in the number of guests from any other country.

Portuguese hotels and guesthouses accommodated 1.4 million guests in January, 12.2 percent more than a year earlier, and the visitors stayed 3.3 million guest-nights, 7.6 per cent more.

Among the guests, 109,000 were Spanish, 98,000 Brazilian and 77,000 British, the official figures show.