China and Sri Lanka plan to open direct flights in November next year, aiming to boost tourism between an emerging outbound tourist market and "a land like no other."

Paddy Withana, chairman of Sri Lanka's Board of Tourism, told a Beijing seminar yesterday that Colombo and Beijing would be linked by a direct flight each week after the two countries finalized the paperwork.

He described Sri Lanka as a special place that attracted Chinese people with its modern facilities, cultural sites, mountains and intact beaches.

Even Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is on a five-day official visit to China, joined the team to promote his country as a travel destination.

He said he was pleased that China had listed Sri Lanka as one of its approved destinations for Chinese citizens. "Sri Lanka has rich tourism resources and beautiful scenery and it is also one of the birth places of Buddhism," he noted, adding it is a land like no other in the world.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism last November, enabling Chinese citizens to take organized tours to the island country.

Liu Wuxiong, deputy general manager of China International Travel Service, a leading travel agency, said that his company had already sent some travel groups to Sri Lanka.

Up to now, tourists had to change flights in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok or Singapore, Liu said.

The seminar started with a traditional Sri Lankan ritual of "lighting the lamp," implying happiness and prosperity. The lamp was lit by Wickremesinghe, Yu Guangzhou, Chinese vice minister of commerce, and Wan Jifei, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Wickremesinghe, the first Sri Lankan prime minister to visit China in 14 years, is being accompanied by 48 entrepreneurs. Tilak Zoysa, chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, recommended that Chinese enterprises fully employ the free trade pact between Sri Lanka and India and establish production centers to export to India and other South Asian nations.

(eastday.com August 12, 2003)