More Chinese are travelling abroad to escape the increasing  level of air  pollution in China as the Asian Development Bank and the Tsinghua University have declared that only one percent of the mainland cities met the World Health Organization's air quality standard.

Reports from Beijing said that the country's thick smog is driving more mainland Chinese as tourists overseas..

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China's surge in overseas tourism was attributed to "unhealthy" air which happened on more than half of all days last year, according to Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau.

Reports said 100 million Chinese traveled overseas in 2014 compared to 8 million in 1998.

As air pollution continues to become a national menace in China, more and more Chinese tourists are travelling in other countries with Asia receiving the largest bulk of Chinese mainland tourists with 90 percent.

Asia was the top destination with Macau, Hong Kong  and Taiwan receiving 70 percent while Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and the United States received a million Chinese tourists each this year.

Travel agents said that clean air is very important to the Chinese travelers in choosing their travel destinations.

Du Haichen, marketing manager of Beijing My Tour International Travel Service, said that health and environmental benefits are the top priorities of Chinese travelers when they go overseas.

" Because of the air pollution, people want to go overseas and clear their lungs," he said.

Daichen said that their travel agency received 30,000 overseas bookings in 2014 with a large percentage of clients preferring clean air, sun and sea.

He said activities like hiking, playing golf, and cycling and other activities that boost the health of the Chinese are usually incorporated in their travel services since these are what the mainlands are looking for in their destinations.

Reports said some local destinations such as Tibet are also being considered by some Chinese tourists as travel locations.

The increasing level of air pollution in China has prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to declare war on air pollution.

The smog-plagued capital, Beijing, has announced that it will ban all use and sale of coal by the end of 2020 as part of its anti-pollution drive.

In September this year, the Chinese government announced a prohibition on all new coal-fired power plants around Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

TagsChinese Tourists, travel agencies