China overtook Japan to become New Zealand's fourth largest source of visitor arrivals in January, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday.

The 122,000 visitor arrivals from China represented an increase of 15,500, up 15 percent, on the same month last year. In contrast, the 119,500 visitor arrivals from Japan represented a decrease of 14,000, down 10 percent from the previous year.

The top three sources of visitor arrivals in January were Australia (956,400), Britain (289,400) and the United States (219,400).