(Yicai Global) Nov. 1 -- Cambodia will receive at least 1 million Chinese tourists this year, whose number is expected to double by 2020, said Thong Khon, Cambodia's minister of tourism. Thong was addressing a workshop on how to attract and serve Chinese tourists held in capital city of Phnom Penh yesterday, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

In the first eight months this year, Cambodia has received about 3.5 million international tourists, registering a year-on-year growth of 11.8 percent, including more than 740,000 Chinese tourists, up 44 percent year-on-year basis. The future of Cambodian tourism is closely tied with the growing outbound tourism of Chinese tourists, said Thong Khon at the 2nd Cambodian Tourism Workshop on Expanding Chinese Customer Market and Serving Chinese Visitors.

China and Cambodia have been strengthening partnership in tourism and other related fields. China is willing to enhance policy communication with Cambodia by taking the opportunity of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, work together to develop the tourism industry around the "Belt and Road," endeavor to set up an effective cooperation system of tourism, and actively promote tourism resources of both countries, so as to play a fundamental role in facilitating tourism cooperation and make positive contribution to the development of Cambodia and its friendship with China, said Zuo Wenxing, political counselor of the Embassy of China in Cambodia.

Cambodia released '2016-2020 Strategy to Attract Chinese Tourists' last year, indicating that efforts will be made to attract 2 million Chinese tourists by 2020.