COLOMBO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka grew by 3.5 percent in September with the arrival of 19,600 tourists, compared to the 18,900 tourists who arrived during the same month last year, data from Sri Lanka's Tourism Ministry showed here Friday.

The Tourism Ministry in a statement said China was ranked the second highest market with the most number of arrivals, with India, Britain, Germany and Australia also ranking in the top five.

Overall, tourism arrivals to Sri Lanka in September grew by 2.8 percent with the arrival of 149,087 tourists.

Statistics showed that from this January to September, Sri Lanka has already received over 1.7 million tourists, a 11.6 percent growth compared to the same period last year.

Out of these figures, Chinese arrivals from January to September have been more than 209,000, the ministry said.

Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said last month that tourist arrivals from China were likely to see a significant growth following steps taken to promote Sri Lanka as a holiday destination in Chinese provinces.