According to the latest figures released by Taiwan's tourism authority, more than 1.63 million visitors from mainland China traveled to the island in 2010, 67.75% more than in the same period of 2009.

The figures also revealed that mainland China had overtaken Japan as the largest source market of tourists for Taiwan. The tourism authority expects that the number of mainland visitors will rise to two million this year, and to contribute revenues of more than NTD100 billion to the island's tourism sector.

The tourism authority also said that the total number of visitor arrivals from both mainland China and foreign countries rose 26.67% year on year to an all-time high of about 5.57 million.

The total number of visitors is expected to hit 6.5 million in 2011, it added.