More than 34 million Chinese mainland people will have traveled overseas by the end of this year, up about 10 percent from 2005, a tourism official said on Saturday.

Chinese mainland visitors can now tour around 132 countries and regions, up from 18 in 2001, including Hong Kong and Macao, said Zhang Xiqin, vice director of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), at a tourism development conference in Xichang, southwestern Sichuan Province.

He also said the number of overseas visitors to the Chinese mainland will have climbed 3.4 percent to 124 million this year, with 90 to 100 million visitors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Editor: Donald