Xiong Shanhua, director general of the CNTO’s Italian office, said,"This year has begun in the best of ways. In January there was a 47% rise in arrivals from Italy to China and we expect this trend to increase by 9-10% throughout the year compared with 2009. It is for sure the best January we have ever had."
More than 190,000 Italian tourists visited China in 2009.
Despite a 1.47% drop compared with 2008, Italian tourist arrivals increased 10% year on year in the second half of 2009, according to statistics from the CNTO.
English People’s Daily Online reported that Xiong said the positive data on Italy’s growing China-bound tourism indicated the global economic crisis was about to end.