Tourist arrivals totaled 10.23 million in March, down 2.44 percent from the same period of 2005.

China's foreign exchange earnings from tourism was estimated at 6.824 billion U.S. dollars in the first three months, up 3.84 percent from a year earlier, with the March figures rising by 0.94 percent to 2.463 billion dollars.

The number of tourists from Canada, Russia, France, the United States, India, Britain and Germany all reported double-digital growth.

China received around 120 million overseas tourists in 2005. Enditem