China Economic ReviewThe number of Chinese tourists to France will double in two years from the current 300,000 as a result of China granting Europe authorized destination status, French officials predicted. Germany signed a similar agreement with China independently in 2002 and saw the number of overnight mainland stays reach 600,000 in 2003.
China added Switzerland to its list of approved tourist destinations and the Swiss Federal Bureau of Tourism announced that it planned to move its South-east Asian Area headquarters to Beijing to better explore the Chinese market.
China's civil aviation authorities allowed domestic airlines to raise economy fares for domestic routes to offset the impact of jet fuel price hikes. A normal air ticket between Beijing and Shanghai costing RMB 1000 (US$121) increased by RMB 30 (US$3.60). Fares for European and Australian routes are expected to go up significantly, while those for […]
Taiwan and China are working on a deal under which Chinese airlines would fly to Taiwan during the Chinese New Year holiday in January 2004, according to Taiwan officials. The deal would allow Taiwanese businesspeople to fly charter flights home in January under a scheme similar to the model established in 2003.
China Southern Airlines, the largest mainland airline, and Air France struck a codeshare agreement on the Paris-Guangzhou route after 18 months of negotiations. From January 5, China Southern will buy blocks of seats on Air France's five weekly flights between the cities. The service will become daily on June 14, with the Chinese carrier adding […]