For the first time, China is on the podium of the most visited countries in the world, behind France and the United States, and takes the place of Spain.

During a press conference in Beijing this weekend, the Administration of Tourism of China has established 55.66 million, the number of visitors who stayed overnight in China 2010, an increase of 9.4% over the previous year.

China lags far behind France (78.95 million) but is close to the U.S. (60.88 million) this year. Spain is relegated to fourth place with 52.2 million.

Most tourists come to China from neighboring regions enjoying special status, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. But the numbers are increasing among Japanese tourists, Vietnamese, Indian, according to the Chinese government.

South Korea leads the tourists ‘international’ in 2010, with just over four million visitors. The region is the most visited Guangdong in the south, near Hong Kong.

Of specialists in the cities by the newspaper China Daily attributed the growth in tourism to China in 2010 with major events such as the Shanghai World Expo and Asian Games in Guangzhou.