SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea was estimated to halve this year compared with last year, the central bank's estimate showed Wednesday.
Bank of Korea (BOK) estimated that the number of Chinese travelers to South Korea would be cut by 4 million this year compared with over 8,068,000 last year, according to Yonhap news agency report.
It would reduce South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) by about 5 trillion won (4.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, according to the BOK estimate.
From March to October, the number of Chinese visitors to South Korea totaled 2,382,000, down 60.1 percent from the same period of last year.
The BOK said in its October monetary policy meeting that worsened relations between South Korea and China were forecast to pull down South Korea's economic growth this year by 0.4 percentage points.
However, the negative effect was expected to be lowered as the two countries agreed to get the bilateral relations into a normal track on Oct. 31.
