The China National Tourism Administration will pilot a project this year to select joint venture tour operators to handle some outbound business.

It is the first time that the administration has decided to open its outbound business to joint ventures and foreign investors, but further details were not immediately available.

Foreign tour agencies and joint ventures are currently allowed to operate only in the areas of inbound and domestic travel, and are barred from outbound business, which is the most lucrative part of the market.

Opening the outbound market is not part of China's commitments to the World Trade Organization. But the opportunities offered by outbound travel have attracted many foreign operators to China, according to industry insiders.

The World Tourism Organization forecast China would become the world's fourth-largest source of outbound tourists by 2015. By then, 100 million Chinese will travel overseas annually.

Last year, 40.95 million Chinese traveled overseas, up 18.6 percent from 2006.

The administration forecast that the number of outbound travelers is expected to increase 10 percent to 45 million this year.

Chinese tourists' outbound travel destinations have expanded from 20 countries and regions in 2002 to the current 134.

The United States is the latest to open its door to China. The first Chinese tourists are expected to make trips there this spring.