China tops visitors to Australia for first time

CANBERRA, Australia - China has overtaken New Zealand as the leading source of visitors to Australia, data has revealed.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, or ABS, people from China made 1.43 million short-term visits to Australia in 2018, up 6 percent on 2017, beating the 1.38 million from New Zealand.

It marks the first time New Zealand has been knocked off the top place in the rankings since it overtook Japan in 1999.