China is planning to attract more investment for its ever-expanding tourism sector, with the country’s state planner aiming to create combined private investments of CN¥2tn (US$290bn, €272bn, £228bn) by 2020.

With China’s tourism industry already accounting for 10 per cent of the nation’s annual economic growth, the major investment will include a number of key tourism projects and further development of infrastructure facilitating holiday-makers.

As a response to guidelines from the state cabinet to reform the sector, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) released a statement which said it would proactively guide “social capital” – a Chinese term for private investment.

The country’s tourism industry is expecting to employ 50 million people by 2020, which will account for more than 10 per cent of its employment. The government has also been actively developing and expanding its services industry in an attempt to offset persistent weak global demand for Chinese exports.

China has been heavily investing attractions, with work starting on a number of projects, including BBC Earth and Top Gear theme parks, a replica Titanic and a theme park offering real flights into space.

Among the 55-plus theme parks under development in China, Universal Studios Beijing is one of the most significant, with the mammoth CN¥50bn (US$7.4bn, €6.65bn, £6bn) attraction breaking ground in November.

In-line with wider China’s 2020 tourism plans, Wanda chair Wang Jianlin is one of the largest individual investors into the sector, with his own plans to make his company the world’s largest tourism entity by 2020. By that time, Wang wants his parks to have welcomed more than 200 million people and be earning annual tourism income in excess of US$14.9bn (€13.4bn, £11.4bn).

Most recently for Wanda, two major projects were announced at the end of November, with agreements signed between both China’s Shaanxi provincial government and Changsha municipal government to build theme parks, commercial centres and sports developments in Xi’an and Hunan Province. The combined investments total CN¥207bn (US$30bn, €28bn, £24bn).

Wang opened two Wanda Cities in Hefei and Nanchang this year, with plans to have 15 such projects across China by 2020. Outside of China, the operator is also planning to open a further five complexes overseas.