TIANJIN, Sept. 13 -- China's cultural and tourism industries experienced notable growth in the first half of this year, Du Jiang, vice minister of culture and tourism, said Friday at an expo in north China's Tianjin Municipality.

According to Du's speech at the 2024 China Culture & Tourism Industries Exposition, China's major cultural enterprises achieved combined operating revenues of 6.5 trillion yuan (about 915 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half, up 7.5 percent year on year.

During the same period, China's domestic tourist trips reached 2.72 billion, with total tourism expenditure amounting to 2.7 trillion yuan, marking year-on-year increases of 14.3 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

"China's inbound and outbound tourism has also seen a strong recovery, achieving significant growth," Du said.

Du added that since the beginning of this year, China's cultural industry has continued to thrive, and the tourism industry has shown strong vitality, playing a positive role in stabilizing employment, promoting consumption and exchanges, and benefiting people's livelihoods.