Participants at the World Tourism Organization (WTO) 15th General Assembly agreed they must accelerate the development of their tourism industries in order to catch up with China.

"When I first visited China in 1992, which marked the first Visit China Year, the country received barely 15 million foreign tourists. Last year, just a decade after, the figure was 37 million," said Francesco Frangialli, secretary-general of WTO.

"The trend will continue. I have mixed feelings when announcing this, but according to the WTO's prediction, China will become the world's number one tourism destination in 2020, overtaking my own country, France. To the Secretary of State for Tourism of France, I say, 'You must defend yourself'."

China not only introduced fierce competition for visitors, but also unprecedented opportunities.

"China's rising tourism will create chances for hotels, aviation and travel agencies. The biggest travel agency in Europe and the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer have found business in China," said Giuseppe Galati, Vice-Minister of Italian Production Activities.

Jalpak International planned to open its first solely foreign- funded travel agency in China. The first foreign capital controlled travel agency will also operate soon. Experts said the entry of international travel agencies indicated China's strong attraction.

By 2002, China's tourism utilized 50 billion US dollars of foreign capital, accounting for 11 percent of all business foreign capital utilization.

China's world destination status put some other nations under pressure, while China's growth in outbound tourists cheered them up, said Fryni Michael, director general of the Cyprus Tourism Organization.

Over 16.6 million Chinese travelers went abroad last year, making China a fast growing tourism source nation in the Asia and Pacific region.

"China is poised to become one of the top generating markets for the rest of the world. The WTO's intelligence services have informed me that several delegations intend to take advantage of this assembly to strengthen their commercial positions in the Chinese market. I can only encourage them to go ahead and do so," said Frangialli.

From Nov. 1, Chinese tourists can visit 28 countries and regions. The China National Tourism Administration will hold a series of talks with ministers from over 30 nations on cooperative agreements.

"China's tourism is running with that of the world," said Valli Moosa, South Africa's Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

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