About 160 million foreign travelers will visit the country annually, generating tourism revenue of more than $160 billion, said the China Tourism Development Report.[Photo by Zou Hong/Asianewsphoto]

Chinese expenditure on tourism is expected to reach 8 trillion yuan ($1.22 trillion) by 2020, contributing more than 10 percent of the growth in the country's GDP, according to a report about the country's tourism development.

About 160 million foreign travelers will visit the country annually, generating tourism revenue of more than $160 billion, said the China Tourism Development Report, which was released by the China National Tourism Administration.

China's tourism industry has experienced rapid development since the late 1970s, when the country started its reform and opening-up, said Li Jinzao, chairman of the administration, earlier this month.

The industry's contribution to the country's GDP has exceeded 10 percent, Li said, citing statistics from the World Travel and Tourism Council and the State Information Center.

China ranks atop the world in domestic tourist trips, outbound trips and tourism consumption, he said.

The tourism development report was released ahead of the First World Conference on Tourism for Development being held in Beijing from Wednesday through Saturday.

More than 140 countries and regions, industry experts and representatives of international and regional organizations are attending the event.

The development of China's tourism industry is closely associated with the country's economic growth over the past decades, according to the tourism development report.

The number of annual domestic trips has increased from 200 million in 1984 to 4.1 billion last year, an average annual growth of 10.2 percent, statistics show.

Domestic tourism revenue has increased from about 8 billion yuan in 1985 to more than 3.42 trillion yuan last year, an average annual growth of 22.4 percent, according to statistics.

Meanwhile, China has become a major tourism power in the world with regard to the size of its outbound and inbound tourism.

As a major source of tourists in the world, the country's outbound tourism has developed rapidly since 2000.