The replica of the 18th century Swedish merchant ship "Gotheborg" arrived in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, on Tuesday after a nine and a half month voyage.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, who arrived in China on Monday on a six-day state visit, made a symbolic exit from Gotheborg III's cabin, to the applause of thousands of local officials and residents.

The ship will stay in Guangzhou for a month, when China and Sweden will launch various activities to promote bilateral ties in culture, tourism, economy and trade, said Li Wenyao, head of Guangzhou Tourism Bureau.

Local government will also hold several exhibitions on Swedish coffee, tea culture, sailing. and pictures featuring Guangzhou culture on a 24,000-square-meter expo garden named after the Gotheborg.

The legendary 18th century Swedish merchant ship "Gotheborg" made three voyages from Gothenburg to Guangzhou between 1743 and 1745, pioneering trade between Sweden and China.

On its last return trip to Sweden in 1745, tragedy struck when it smashed into rocks about 900 meters from its destination after a 30-month voyage to China. It sunk with its entire cargo outside the port of Gothenburg.

The wreckage of the ship was recovered in 1984 and excavation was conducted from 1986 to 1992. The discovery led to the idea of rebuilding a replica of the ship by using the same traditional techniques and materials and sailing it to China again.

Gotheborg III, 58.8 meters long and 11 meters wide, costs 30 million U.S. dollars and ten-years efforts of over 4,000 ship builders.

The ship, which left Swedish city of Gothenburg for China in October last year, carries 80 crew members and some of the silk, porcelain, tea leaves and spices that went down with the original ship.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2006)