China
12:20, 20-Oct-2017
China reaches tourist summit in Abu Dhabi
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China has become the largest source of tourists to Abu Dhabi, the city's latest travel statistics show.
The number of visits of Chinese to the capital and the second most populous city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached 242,000 from January to August, the tourism department said Thursday.
Leisure and business trips have soared since authorities adopted a decision in September last year to grant visas to Chinese visitors to the UAE on arrival.
Saif Saeed Ghobash, director of Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism, said that in the first eight months of 2017 Chinese visitor arrivals increased by 68 percent year on year.
Ghobash revealed the figures in Shanghai at "Abu Dhabi Week in China," the first promotional activity between the city and China.
To attract more Chinese visitors and meet their demands, many tourist attractions in the city have been improving their services, such as providing Chinese-speaking tour guides and promoting UnionPay, China's largest bank card payment processor.
Abu Dhabi said that the city is expected to welcome around 600,000 visits from China in 2021.
The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. /VCG photo
The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. /VCG photo
China has been the top trading partner of the UAE for three straight years. The total China-UAE trade amounted to 141.74 billion U.S. dollars during the 2014-2016 period, according to statistics from the UAE Ministry of Economy.
A key player in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Abu Dhabi is on the route of China’s "21st Century Maritime Silk Road". According to Seatrade Maritime, the UAE handles 60 percent of China’s exports in the region, with a trade value in the ballpark of 70 billion US dollars each year.
Just at the end of July, China’s Jiangsu Province signed a 300-million-US-dollar deal with the Abu Dhabi Ports to develop a manufacturing in the free trade zone of Khalifa Port.
Major Chinese firms operating in the UAE include China Construction, China National Petroleum Corporation and China Barbour.
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency