ULAN BATOR, July 19 (Xinhua) -- China has become the largest source of foreign tourist to Mongolia in the first half of 2019, the country's tourism department said Friday.

(Photo: VCG)

Chinese tourists accounted for 36.4 percent of total foreign tourist arrivals, holding a monthly leading position since January.

"Mongolia has nowadays relied more on China to drive its tourism businesses," Urjinkhand Byambasuren, a specialist of Ulan Bator's tourism department, told Xinhua.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism said it hopes to attract more Chinese tourists to bolster growth in the mining-dependent economy.

Mongolia has set itself a goal of welcoming 1 million foreign tourists and earning 1 billion U.S. dollars from tourism in 2020.

The Asian country attracted a total of 529,370 foreign tourists in 2018, up some 11 percent from the previous year, according to the ministry.