More Chinese Expected To Tour South KoreaThe Republic of Korea (ROK) has been receiving an increasing number of Chinese tourists since China loosened its restrictions on its citizens visiting the neighboring country two years ago, according to a senior official of the ROK.China and ROK signed an agreement in 1998 in this regard. Lee Sang-Joo, chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Visit Korea Year 2001, made this remark here during the weekend at a fair for promoting ROK tourism in China, and vice versa. The number of people from the Chinese mainland who toured the ROK in 1999 reached 320,000, an increase of 50 percent on the 1998 figure. The number of Chinese visitors to the ROK is bound to rise, as all Chinese citizens are now allowed to travel to that country, according to a new agreement signed by the two countries in June this year. The ROK dispatched its largest tourism representative delegation, totaling 60 teams, to attend the fair. More than 160 people involved in tourism in China's Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces made wide-ranging contacts with their counterparts from the ROK at the fair. For its Visit Korea Year, the ROK intends to promote the development of its tourism sector by holding more than 70 activities. |
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