HANOI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is poised to host nearly 2.7 million Chinese visitors in the first eight months of this year, seeing a year-on-year rise of 51.4 percent, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said on Monday.

Vietnam this year has so far welcomed a total of roughly 8.5 million international arrivals, up 29.7 percent, with the highest growth of 51.4 percent in the number of tourists from China, followed by South Korea (up 49.3 percent), Russia (44.8 percent), Cambodia (27.9 percent) and the Philippines (22.4 percent).

Of the international arrivals between January and August, nearly 7.2 million came to Vietnam by air, 1.1 million by road, and 180,000 by sea. Meanwhile, 6.3 million visitors are from Asia, nearly 1.3 million from Europe, over 565,000 from Americas, 280,000 from Oceania, and more than 23,000 from Africa.

Vietnam is actively promoting its major tourist sites in Chinese cities and cooperating with local authorities to handle poorly-performing travel agencies, hoping to lure some 4 million Chinese visitors this year, said the administration under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Last year, Vietnam welcomed more than 10 million foreign visitors, including 2.7 million Chinese tourists, seeing respective rises of 26 percent and 51.4 percent.