A Malaysian minister has called for the scrapping of visas for Chinese tourists as part of efforts to revive flagging arrivals from the country, a report said today.

Deputy Tourism Minister Donald Lim said Malaysia was losing out on its share of the Chinese market.

"In 2004, we had 550,000 Chinese tourists. And last year, the number dropped 36 percent to only 350,000," Lim was quoted as saying in the Star daily.

The Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA) representing tour operators has been lobbying for visas to be dropped, and Lim said he would take up their proposal and others to increase Malaysia's share of a lucrative market.

The government has attributed the fall in Chinese visitors to increased competition from other tourist destinations but also blamed negative publicity over the treatment of Chinese nationals.

Visa-free for short periods

In a high-profile case last year, a woman believed to be a Chinese national was forced to perform nude squats at a police station, prompting an outcry over rights abuses.

The government eventually identified the woman as an ethnic Malay but not before Malaysia apologised to Beijing.

MCTA president Chay Ng said his organisation eventually wanted to see all Chinese nationals admitted visa-free for short periods.

Chay said 31 million Chinese nationals had ventured overseas for holidays in 2005 with numbers projected to rise exponentially, and Malaysia could not afford to lag behind its neighbours.