While tour operators and department stores from New York to Paris court Chinese visitors to boost their coffers, one of the country's top leaders has warned that ill-behaved tourists are damaging the national image.

  Wang Yang, one of China's four deputy prime ministers, said that while other countries had welcomed Chinese tourism, the quality of some travellers was not high.

  He said: "They speak loudly in public, carve characters on tourist attractions, cross the road when the traffic lights are still red, spit anywhere and [carry out] some other uncivilised behaviour. It damages the image of the Chinese people and has a very bad impact."

  Wang told a government meeting that officials should guide tourists "to consciously obey social and public order and social morality, respect the local religions and customs, pay attention to their words and behaviour in the public, especially in the international environment, protect tourism resources and protect the environment", Xinhua, the state news agency, reported. Wang said tourists should be ambassadors for China's image.

  Wang's complaint about graffiti may have been inspired by a domestic incident: there was anger recently when a vandal carved "Liang Qiqi was here" into a relic at Beijing's Forbidden City.

  Chinese people made 70m overseas trips in 2011, according to the World Tourism Organisation, which predicted the annual total would rise to 100m by the end of the decade. That figure included trips to Hong Kong and Macau, run under the "one country, two systems" framework.

  Though on average they spend less than their western counterparts, their sheer number means that China has become the highest-spending nation for outbound tourism. Its tourists spent $102bn (￡67bn) overseas last year, compared with the $84bn that German and US tourists spent, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation.

  Chinese tourists have raised concerns about the behaviour of their hosts, too – including a lack of language skills and poor planning in South Korea to bullying guides in Hong Kong, the lack of hot water inItalian hotel rooms and the UK's "unfriendly" visa system. Britain promised this week that it would try to simplify visa applications.

  According to Visit Britain, the UK has seen a 39% rise in visits from China over the past five years. It welcomed 150,000 Chinese visitors last year, who between them spent ￡240m.

  从纽约到巴黎，各旅行社和百货公司为了提高营业额，都在讨好中国游客。但中国国务院副总理汪洋日前警告说，中国游客在海外的不文明行为有损国家形象。

  汪洋表示，虽然其他国家欢迎中国旅行团，但其中有些游客素质并不高。

  他说：“他们在公共场合大声喧哗，旅游景区乱刻字，过马路时闯红灯，随地吐痰等不文明行为，有损国人形象，影响恶劣。”

  在一次政府会议上，汪洋指出，各级官员应引导旅游者“自觉遵守社会公共秩序和社会公德，尊重当地宗教信仰和风俗习惯，注意公众场合特别是涉外场合的言谈举止，爱护旅游资源，保护生态环境，”中国新华社报道说。汪洋认为中国游客应成为中国形象的展示者。

  汪洋指责游客乱写乱画应是源于中国景区发生的一件事：近日，有游客在北京故宫一口清代大缸上刻了“梁齐齐到此一游”的字样，这一文物破坏行为引起了社会极大反响。

  据世界旅游组织称，2011年中国游客出境旅游达7000万人次，这十年末年度总数有望增加到1亿。这一数字包括在“一国两制”的架构下，到香港和澳门旅游的人次。

  虽然中国游客人均消费不及西方游客，但其绝对数量很大，意味着中国已成为出境游消费最高的国家。据联合国世界旅游组织称，去年，中国游客在海外消费达1020亿美元（670亿英镑），而德国和美国游客总共消费为840亿美元。

  但同时，东道主的行为也引起了中国游客的关注，包括缺乏语言沟通能力，韩国旅游规划不周全，香港导游欺负游客，意大利酒店房间没热水，以及英国“不友好”的签证制度等。本周，英国承诺会简化签证申请程序。

  据英国旅游部门称，五年来中国到英国游客人次增长39%，去年总数达15万，共消费2.4亿。