KOTA KINABALU: There are currently 95 direct flights weekly between Kota Kinabalu and cities in China.
Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu, Liang Caide, said Sabah was one of the most popular travel destinations for tourists from China.
“In 2016, 380,000 Chinese tourists visited Sabah. The number of Chinese tourists reached 430,000 in 2017, an increase of 15 per cent compared to 2016.”
He said Chinese tourist arrivals to Sabah would rise to 1 million in the future.
At present, Liang said there were 95 direct flights per week to different cities in China, adding that Xiamen Air just launched a direct route connecting Kota Kinabalu and Beijing on Tuesday.
“I believe there will be more direct flights in the future, which will attract more Chinese tourists to visit this beautiful Land Below the Wind,” he said in a press conference here yesterday.
On another note, Liang said Sabah was strategically located and an important node of the Maritime Silk Road.
“Sabah has diverse culture, beautiful scenery and rich tourism resources.
“Sabah is also the nearest place of Malaysia from China, we are historically and culturally related.”
In recent years, following the advancement of The Belt and Road Initiative, he said more and more Chinese enterprises had set foot in Sabah, while trade and economic cooperation between two places had shown strong vitality and remarkable strength, allowing the people of Sabah to realise the benefit brought by the Belt and Road initiative.
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