MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. Outbound tourism in China grew by 640% in early 2023 compared to last year, Chinese ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui told TASS in an interview.

"According to statistics, during the Spring Festival (the name of the Chinese New Year - TASS), held from January 21 to 27 this year, about 2,870,000 people crossed the country’s border, an average of 410,000 people a day, which is a 120.5% increase compared to the period of last year’s Spring Festival. The total number of Chinese tourists' outbound travel bookings increased by 640% compared with the same period last year, and the number of bookings of cross-border air tickets increased more than four-fold," he said.

The envoy noted that all countries warmly welcomed Chinese tourists. He also pointed out that more than 300 million Chinese citizens traveled to China for the Chinese New Year. "The box office revenue at New Year screenings exceeded 6.7 billion yuan ($973,907,980 - TASS), and the number of moviegoers was 129 million. Both the hot demand for tourism and the wave of consumption embody the Chinese people's desire for a better life and confidence in the country's development, and allow people of all countries to feel the powerful driving force of the Chinese economic revival and the global significance of its improvement," the diplomat pointed out.