KUALA LUMPUR - China's tourist arrivals in Malaysia surged 28 percent in the first half of 2010, a visiting Chinese official said on Tuesday.

To date, tourist arrivals between China and Malaysia have reached two million a year, and the number was expected to hit four million after some years, Shao Qiwei, director of China National Tourism Administration said.

Shao, who arrived here leading a Chinese delegation, met Malaysian Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen on Tuesday.

At the joint press conference, Shao said that the Chinese government encouraged Chinese nationals to not only visit but also to invest in Malaysia.

He said that China was willing to cooperate with Malaysia and other ASEAN countries to explore the vast potentials in the cruises travel sector.

According to Shao, the largest cruise in the world that can accommodate six thousand travelers have hired 4,000 employees on board, implying that the sector can ease the problem of unemployment.

Meanwhile, Ng said that Malaysia shared the same views with China in terms of the development of cruises travel, adding that both countries were looking at areas where they could collaborate.

Ng also said that Malaysia would participate in the tourism investment conference to be held in Ningbo, China, next April in order to woo investors from China to invest in the five-star hotels sector in Malaysia.

On another note, Ng said that tourists from China had overtaken Japanese tourists to become the top spenders in Malaysia.