Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang has called on his nation 's tourists to improve their behavior , stressing it was important to project a `` good image of Chinese tourists , '' official state media outlet Xinhua reported . Xinhua reported on Thursday that Wang made the remarks during a State Council teleconference on the implementation of the country 's new Tourism Law . The law , adopted in April , is to take effect October 1 . It includes measures aimed at addressing issues like unfair competition , price hikes and forced goods purchases that Xinhua said plague the industry . Wang also said it was important develop the tourism sector into a key part of China 's economy . In a matter of just a decade or so , Chinese tourists have gone from being relatively rare outside of Asia to becoming the most important market in global tourism , surpassing American and German travelers in 2012 as the world 's top international spenders , with a record $ 102 billion shelled out on the road . With the growth has come a backlash against Chinese tourist in some sectors of the travel industry , particularly Hong Kong . There , mainland Chinese tourists face harsh resentment for a number of issues . Clashes between locals and tourists on public transportation and in restaurants have been caught on video , rapidly gone viral on the Internet and are regular press fodder . Chinese tourism : The good , the bad and the backlash .
China - Wang says the country needs to project a better image of its tourists . They are now the world 's highest paid tourists . Growth has also spurned discrimination against mainland Chinese .