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China will lead global tourism in the 21st century, Federico Sommaruga, Southeast Asia director of the Switzerland Tourism Board, said in Beijing Monday at the ongoing 15th session of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) General Assembly.

Sommaruga said China's tourism would boom was the outcome of China's growing economy, its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the incoming of the Olympic Games to Beijing in the year 2008.

Chinese tourists were becoming the largest purchasing group, said Sommaruga, adding this was great news for global tourism.

China has become one of the nations with the fastest pace in tourism development in the world, he said, attributing this phenomenon to three factors, namely more disposable income, three long "Golden Week" holidays every year, and various types of entertainment to cater to the Chinese tourists.

The number of tourists from China traveling abroad rose 30 percent on annual basis in average from 1998 to 2000, and Chinese citizens will be free to visit 28 countries and regions in the world at their own expense by the end of November this year.

The WTO estimated that China would rank fourth in the world in terms of tourist output by the year 2020.

Switzerland applied to become a destination nation for Chinese tourists in 1998, and now is still in contact with China's National Tourism Administration, hoping to attract more Chinese visitors.

Sommaruga voiced his full confidence in the growth of Chinese tourism in this century, acknowledging that Chinese citizens will have more easy access to travel overseas.

It is estimated that overnight stays of Chinese tourists in Switzerland will reach 250,000 by the year 2005, he said.