According to the World Tourism Organisation, nearly one in ten international tourists worldwide is now Chinese.
(There were 97.3m outward-bound journeys from China in 2013, of which around half were for leisure.
Chinese tourists spend most in total ($129 billion in 2013, followed by Americans at $86 billion) and per tax-free transaction ($1,130 compared with $494 by Russians).
More than 80% say that shopping is vital to their plans, compared with 56% of Middle Eastern tourists and 48% of Russians.
The Chinese are expected to buy more luxury goods next year while abroad than tourists from all other countries combined.
However, only around 5% of China’s population actually own passports.)
