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China’s International Tourism under Economic Transition:
National Trends and Regional Disparities
Abstract
China’s Tourism industry, especially international tourism, has expanded rapidly since its
market-oriented economic reform started in 1978. There has been limited information regarding
the trends and regional disparities. This paper examines the national trends of China’s
international tourism since 1982 and analyzes the changes in regional disparities since 1995.
While the trend analysis suggests that China’s international tourism is likely to keep growing at a
significant rate, the analysis of regional disparities based on Gini coefficient indicates that the
regional inequality in the number of international tourists and income has shown a downward
trend since 1995. Findings from this study suggest that China’s economic reform has stimulated
the growth in international tourism and the international tourism has contributed to its economic
growth and business development.
Introduction
As a result of China’s market-oriented economic reform started in 1978, its tourism
industry, especially international tourism, has expanded rapidly since the early 1980s.
Significant evidence indicates that China’s tourism has evolved into one of the most promising
and fastest-developing industries in the national economy. For example, China’s total number of
international tourists increased by 14.75% and foreign earnings from international tourism
increased by 18.72% between 1982 and 2000. China’s international tourists reached 83.48
million in 2000, which was 46 times more than the 1.8 million tourists recorded in 1978 (He,