The Chinese government has declared Mozambique as an official tourist destination for its citizens.
This follows an agreement signed in Maputo on Thursday, between Tourism Minister, Fernando Sumbana and the Chinese Ambassador to Mozambique, Tiang Uang Seng.
Now, Mozambique features a list of more than 30 countries in the world that are considered privileged destination for Chinese tourists.
The new agreement will ease the movement of Chinese tourists to Mozambique, and this is the implementation of a desire expressed by both countries back in 2003, during the World Tourism Organization (WTO) Conference held in Beijing.
Currently, China is one of the major of outbound tourists from Asia.
Every year, China elects a number of countries as official tourist destination, and these countries must meet a number of requirements such as good infrastructures, political and socio-economic stability.
Mozambique has a huge natural tourism potential and a unique geographic location. In the near future Mozambique will turn into one of the major tourist destinations in the world.
Chinese tourists have a long tradition of travelling in groups of 50 or more citizens, which brings a number of advantages to the hosting countries.
Besides being the major source of outbound tourists in Asia, China is currently competing in the top positions as the major source of tourists worldwide.
Speaking shortly after the signing ceremony, Fernando Sumbana said that the agreement paves the way not only the attraction of new investments and tourists to Mozambique, but for the generation of extra income for the country.
For his part, Tiang Uang Seng said that the agreement is the expression of a desire of both countries to expand the existing cooperation ties.