SHANGHAI - About 250,000 Chinese tourists visited Turkey in 2017, up 47 percent from 2016, an official with the Turkish cultural and tourism ministry said.

During the first two months of 2018, more than 57,000 Chinese visited Turkey, twice the number of the same period last year.

China-Turkey Tourism Year was launched in Shanghai on Tuesday, aiming to boost tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries. During the year, more than 60 activities including music performances, art and craft exhibitions, will be held in several Chinese cities, said Numan Kurtulmus, Turkish minister of Culture and Tourism.

The tourism year is expected to encourage more Chinese to travel to Turkey, and the number of Chinese tourists is expected to top 400,000 this year, Kurtulmus said.

Under the Belt and Road Initiative, China and Turkey have cooperated in economic development, transportation, cultural exchanges and tourism. So far, about 1,000 Chinese companies have invested in Turkey.