China's tourism income reached 1,095.7 billion yuan (US$160.328 billion) in 2007, up 22.6 percent year-on-year, said China National Tourism Administration on Thursday.

The country hosted 131.87 million inbound tourists last year. Domestic and outbound travelers surpassed 1.6 billion and 40.95 million respectively.

The international tourism income reached US$41.91 billion, up 23.5 percent. Domestic tourism income reached 777.06 billion yuan, up 24.7 percent.

The international inbound market maintained fast momentum last year. Tourists from other Asian countries took up 61.5 percent of all international tourists. Republic of Korea continued to be the first on the list of nations.

By the end of 2007, the country had 13,583 star hotels, up 6.5 percent, while the number of travel agencies increased to 18,943 from 17,957 in previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2008)