Feature: Joint Chinese-Croatian police patrol hailed

ZAGREB, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Seeing Chinese police officers, along with their Croatian colleagues, patrolling streets in the Croatian capital, Betty Xie was very excited.

Xie, a Chinese tourist with a tour group visiting Croatia, said she was more than happy to see Chinese police officers here as it would be more convenient to communicate and get assistance.

The joint Chinese-Croatian police patrol, part of Croatia's Safe Tourist Destinations project, has been in place since 2018. This year's project, the fourth of its kind, was launched on July 16 in Zagreb and will last for one month.

"It is a good idea and I support it (the joint Chinese-Croatian police patrol)," Xie said, believing that more Chinese tourists will come to Croatia on vacation.

Another member of the tour group, Long Meiyi, said, "Chinese policemen can help us with many things as we enjoy our vacation here," adding that people in Croatia are warm-hearted and it is quite safe to visit the country.

Xie and Long are among the increasing Chinese tourists visiting Croatia since the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic eased off. There used to be as many as 300,000 Chinese tourists visiting Croatia in the peak years of 2018 and 2019.

"With this year's number of eight Chinese police officers participating in joint patrols in Croatia so far, the total number is 30," said Zorica Lausic, chief of the International Police Cooperation Division at the Croatian Interior Ministry.

"All this makes us very proud and confirms our success within the project of Safe Tourist Destinations which would not have been possible without you, our strong partners," Lausic said at the joint patrol's launch ceremony.

The eight Chinese police officers are on duty with their Croatian colleagues in Zagreb, Zadar, the Plitvice Lakes National Park and Dubrovnik, all of which are main tourist destinations.

Local residents also warmly welcome the joint patrols.

"When I see Croatian and Chinese police officers patrolling the streets, I feel safer," Bozena Hajoin, a local resident, told Xinhua, adding that Safe Tourist Destinations is "a great project."

Vid Doric, a local tour guide, said the joint police patrol is "a very good thing" and tourists "are always reacting very well when they see people who can speak their language."

Echoing Doric, Edward Curran, a tourist from Britain, said it was a good idea for the Croatian and Chinese police officers to work together to provide assistance to tourists.

Mislav Svihir, a Zagreb police officer participating in the joint patrol, said that each year a different group of Chinese police officers arrives, but "it feels like we have always worked together."

Xu Jianjun, one of the Chinese police officers participating in the joint patrol, recalled that one day a Croatian student from the Confucius Institute at the University of Zagreb stopped them in the street and asked for a photo to be taken with them, saying "China, I love you."

"This was a quite touching and unforgettable episode," he said.