HANOI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has welcomed over 4 million Chinese visitors so far this year, up 48.6 percent against the same period last year, the General Statistics Office said on Wednesday.

Since the beginning of this year, Vietnam has received a total of 12.9 million foreign visitors, up 29.1 percent year-on-year, with the highest growth of 56.4 percent in the number of visitors from South Korea, followed by China (up 48.6 percent) and Russia (32.3 percent).

The biggest-ever increase in international arrivals this year is mainly due to Vietnam's hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Year 2017, including the APEC Leaders' Week in November in central Da Nang city, its promotion campaigns and international fairs in China, Australia, Japan, European countries and Southeast Asian nations, and exemption of visas for five Western European countries, said the office.

Of the international arrivals this year, 10.9 million came to Vietnam by air, up 32.1 percent; 1.8 million by road, up 19.5 percent; and 258,800 by sea, down 9.1 percent.

Meanwhile, nearly 9.8 million visitors are from Asia, up 34.4 percent; roughly 1.9 million from Europe, up 16.6 percent; 817,000 from the Americas, mainly from the United States, up 11.1 percent, 420,900 from Oceania, up 14.3 percent, and 35,900 from Africa, up 25.6 percent.

Last year, Vietnam hosted over 10 million international arrivals, including 2.7 million Chinese visitors, posting respective rises of 26 percent and 51.4 percent.