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Hunan Province wants to attract more investment to build itself into a tourism centre in Central China. He Tongxin, vice-governor of the province, said tourism will be the service sector's priority growth area. He added Hunan will also encourage domestic and foreign investment. Hunan has abundant tourism sites and the sector is a booming industry in the province. "We are determined to make Hunan a big tourist province by tapping all its resources," He said. In 2000, about 450,000 overseas and 46.5 million domestic sightseers visited Hunan, and tourism revenue reached 14.8 billion yuan (US$1.78 billion), accounting for 4 per cent of the province's gross domestic product (GDP). "Hunan has good ecological conditions for developing tourism. About 52.4 per cent of it is covered with trees and grass," He said. Zhangjiajie, a scenic resort listed by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a good wild area, Shaoshan Mountain, Chairman Mao Zedong's hometown, and Hengshan Mountain have become top tourist attractions. Tourism is now one of the world's big businesses, accounting for 12 per cent of the world's GDP, so Hunan's tourism industry still has a long way to go. He said the province aims to transform its image from an agricultural province to a tourism, transport and information centre. By the end of 2000, there were more than 200 top hotels, 252 travel agencies and more than 200,000 people involved in Hunan's tourism sector. The province is trying to improve its tourism infrastructure and investment environment to facilitate the introduction of foreign funds. Apart from State highways and international airports in Changsha and Zhangjiajie, several expressways connecting major tourist areas are under construction. Decades of economic development has laid a solid foundation for the development of modern tourism, He said. In the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), the per capita GDP of the province ranked 17th in the country, in comparison to 19th for the previous plan period. The rapid development of tourism also drives the development of related services, He added. With the boost of tourism, the province can expect its GDP to grow by 9 per cent annually over the next five years.