China will supplant the U.S. as the world’s most lucrative business-travel market in 2014, one year earlier than previously forecasted, according to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
China’s business-travel spending will rise 12.5% this year to $195 billion and another 14.7% next year to about $224 billion, according to the GBTA.
Business-travel spending will continue to surge even though growth in China’s gross domestic product (GDP) will slow to 7.8% this year from 9.2% in 2011.
Spending on business travel is buoyed by the Chinese government, noted the GBTA.
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