Tourists on Phuket Island, Thailand, enjoy unspoiled scenery. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The latest data released by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) shows that China's revenue from international tourism in 2015 amounted to $11.4 billion, taking Spain's former ranking as second in the world. The US remains first with $17.8 billion.

As for spending and visits to overseas countries, China ranks first in the world, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The spending of Chinese tourists abroad witnessed a year-on-year increase of 25 percent, reaching $292 billion, followed by the US ($120 billion), Germany ($76 billion) and the UK ($63 billion). The number of Chinese people traveling abroad grew 10 percent overall and totaled 128 million, the data showed.

Global revenue from tourism in 2015 rose 3.6 percent, amounting to $1.4 trillion with an average daily spending of $4 billion per day. The number of international tourists increased 4.4 percent to reach 1.2 trillion.

The growth rate of tourism worldwide has exceeded that of merchandise trade for four consecutive years. The tourism industry accounted for 7 percent of world exports and 30 percent of exported services in 2015.