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China has overtaken the United Kingdom to become New Zealand's second biggest source of overseas visitors for the year to the end of November, the government statistics agency announced Friday.

Australia remained the biggest source, accounting for 45 percent of all visitors to New Zealand, compared with 8 percent for China, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"Visitor arrivals from China reached 194,800 in the November 2012 year, up 38 percent from the previous year," population statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said in a statement.

"Arrivals from China have grown dramatically in the last 20 years, from only 3,300 in 1992. In contrast, visitor numbers from the United Kingdom have been declining for the last five years, with a 17-percent decrease in the current year bringing the number down to 191,400."

According to the agency's monthly International Travel and Migration report, 71 percent of visitors from China were holidaymakers, with about half of them coming from Shanghai, Beijing or Guangdong Province.

Their average length of stay in New Zealand was 3.5 days, compared with 8.7 days for all overseas visitors, and their average age was 47, compared with 40 for all visitors.

Total arrivals for the year ending November were down by 0.7 percent compared to the previous 12 months, which included visitors coming for the Rugby World Cup in September and October last year.

In the month of November, total visitor numbers increased by 1 percent to 232,100 compared with November 2011, while Chinese arrivals were up by 3,300, or 17.6 percent.

"It is now more than a year since we started seeing significant growth from the China market, and while we anticipate the growth to continue it is unlikely that we will see the huge percentages continue," said Kevin Bowler, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, the government tourism agency.

"Over the past year, this route has witnessed a flight frequency increase from three times weekly to daily. The recent MOU signed with China Southern, and the daily flights between China and Auckland that started in November 2011, will help support this continued growth," Bowler said in a statement.

"China represents a huge growth opportunity for New Zealand. The challenge for the industry in 2013 will be to increase awareness of the range of activities and experiences and encourage Chinese visitors to stay longer and do more while they are here."