SHANGHAI, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- In 2017, Chinese tourists to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) surpassed 1 million for the first time, and the transit passengers through UAE reached 3.5 million, according to statistics released by the Chinese tourism authorities.

Among them, 373,400 Chinese tourists visited the capital Abu Dhabi in 2017, up 60 percent compared to the previous year. In the first seven months of 2018, Abu Dhabi received 242,000 Chinese visitors, a year-on-year growth of 14 percent.

Since 2017, China has accounted for the largest share of overseas tourists in Abu Dhabi overtaking India, according to data from the city's Department of Culture and Tourism released in Shanghai.

"Due to China's growing tourist market, we are increasing our campaign in major cities in China to attract more Chinese visitors to Abu Dhabi," said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, who works with the overseas branch of the city's tourism and culture promotion sector.

Apart from its traditional tourist attractions including luxury shopping malls, luxury hotels and Formula 1 racing, the city has newly opened cultural facilities including the Louvre d'Abu Dhabi, the Guggenheim Museum and the Zayed National Museum to meet the strong tourist demand.

According to the Chinese Tourism Academy, the number of outbound tourists in China exceeded 130 million in 2017. The first half of 2018 has seen 71.31 million outbound trips in China, up 15 percent from a year earlier.