A record number of Chinese tourists visited the UK in 2017, marking a 29% increase on the previous year, VisitBritain said Friday.

The 337,000 visitors from China spent more than USD 900 million during their stay, a 35% rise compared with total spending in 2016, said the official tourism agency.

Their report said that the UK had seen a strong growth in overseas visitors in 2017 from a mix of visitor markets including China, Australia, the Gulf region, India and the US, underpinning a record year for inbound tourism.

VisitBritain said the new figures showed double-digit growth in visits and spending last year from China, the world's most valuable outbound market.

Records were also set for the number of visits to London, up 4% on 2017 to 19.8 million, with tourism spending in the capital up 14% to a record USD 17.6 billion.