PHNOM PENH, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia received 1.5 million Chinese tourists during the first seven months of 2019, an increase of 37 percent over the same period last year, said a Tourism Ministry's report released on Wednesday.

Photo: VCG

The report showed that China remained the biggest source of foreign visitors to the Southeast Asian nation, accounting for 39 percent of the total foreign arrivals to the country during the January-July period.

Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon has said that China is a huge market for Cambodia's tourism industry.

"We hope to attract about 2.6 million Chinese tourists in 2019, 3 million in 2020, 5 million in 2025 and up to 8 million in 2030," he said.

According to the report, a total of 3.84 million international tourists traveled to Cambodia during the first seven months of this year, up 11.1 percent over the same period last year.

Tourism is one of the four sectors supporting the country's economy.

Last year, Cambodia received 6.2 million foreign tourists including 2 million Chinese, earning a gross revenue of 4.35 billion U.S. dollars, Thong Khon said, adding that tourism contributed 12.7 percent to the country's GDP.