BEIJING, May 24 -- AC Nielsen published the results of a joint survey with Tax Free World Association over the weekend saying Chinese tourists spent 987 USD per capita on average in their trips abroad, the highest in the world.

    The survey involved some 1500 Chinese consumers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou who traveled to Hong Kong, Macao, other Asian and European nations and areas in the last six months for business or recreation.
   
    It shows that almost all mainland travelers went shopping in their outbound trips, which ate up one third of their budget. And Hong Kong is still the top destination for shopping.

    In 2004, 29 million Chinese traveled abroad, a surge of 43 percent over 2003.