President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to promote high-quality development of the tourism sector to accelerate the building of China into a country strong in tourism and bolster economic growth.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an instruction on work related to the tourism sector.

He pointed out that significant progress has been made in China's tourism development, saying that the nation's tourism industry has entered the fast lane, becoming the world's largest domestic tourism market, the country with the largest number of outbound tourists, and a major destination for international tourists.

The country's tourism sector has evolved from being small and weak to becoming an emerging strategic pillar industry, he said.

Xi said that in the new era and on the new journey, tourism development faces new opportunities and challenges in China.

He underlined the need to improve modern tourism systems and accelerate the building of China into a country strong in tourism.

Li Shulei, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, read out Xi's instruction at the National Tourism Development Conference, which was held in Beijing on Friday.

Addressing the conference, Li emphasized the need to deeply study and implement Xi's instructions and statements on tourism development and promote the integrated development of tourism and culture.

Efforts should be made to focus on systematic and scientific planning, strengthen cultural heritage protection and ecological conservation, improve market supply and tourism services, and deepen international tourism exchanges and cooperation in order to create new prospects for the country's tourism development, he said.

The consumption of services related to culture and tourism has become a pivotal pillar for stabilizing the Chinese economy.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a plan in November to boost domestic tourism, with a focus on offering a more diversified array of tourism products.

The China Tourism Academy estimated that domestic tourism will see remarkable growth both in visitor numbers and revenue in 2024.

According to a report released by the academy in January, China will see domestic visits reaching over 6 billion and tourism-related revenue exceeding 6 trillion yuan ($828 billion) in 2024. The confident prediction is based on the good recovery of supply chains of tourism services and the tourism economy in 2023.