Dubai vows to focus on tourism ties with China

The Dubai tourism chief said on Wednesday that the Gulf Arab emirate will focus on tourism relations with China.

The "China-ready" commitment was declared by Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of Dubai Tourism, at the two-day inaugural Dubai China Conference attended by more than 900 local dignitaries, stakeholders and Chinese partners.

Activities including city-wide Chinese New Year celebrations will be launched to be better able to cater to Chinese traveler requests, according to Almarri.

Earlier this year, the Dubai Tourism authority signed an agreement with Huawei, one of China's largest smartphone manufacturers, to pre-load devices with both user-generated and official cinematographic content of Dubai.

In May, the agreement was expanded further, with Huawei Mobile Services agreeing to offer useful and accessible content about Dubai, in particular through the company's newly-updated SkyTone travel and roaming apps.

On Sept 17, China Eastern Airlines launched direct flights from Dubai to China's eastern metropolis of Shanghai.

Dubai welcomed 453,000 Chinese visitors in the first six months of 2018, up nine percent from a year ago.