CANBERRA - China has overtaken the UK and become Australia's second biggest market in tourism behind New Zealand, according to a latest survey Wednesday.

Tourism Research Australia's latest International Visitors Survey shows the number of international visitors to Australia increased by 3 percent in the year ending September 2012.

The survey shows a continuing trend of strong growth from China -- with arrivals increasing by 17 percent in the last year to 573, 000 -- surpassing the UK at 558,000.

"Australia has continued to see steady growth in international visitation in the last year despite challenging global economic conditions," Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson said in a statement.

"What the survey shows is decreases in visitor numbers from other markets are being offset by increases from Asia, up 6 percent, and a recent positive recovery in visitors from the United States is also helping to ensure good growth, particularly in the last few months."

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