MALAYSIA has set a target of attracting at least six million tourists from mainland China this year, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
This target is deemed achieveable as Malaysia has already established 502 weekly flights between destinations in Malaysia and cities in mainland China, he said in his latest social media updates.
"Malaysia's air connectivity with cities in China have seen a significant boost with more airlines from China flying here while our airlines have also increased flight frequencies to China cities.
"There are 102,343 seats per week now on offer for routes spanning Malaysia and China.
"Our tourism in the country has benefitted tremendously from the 30 day visa free travel between Malaysia-China-Malaysia implemented by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"We are confident we can get six million China tourists to come to Malaysia," said Tiong who is Member of Parliament for Bintulu.
The 30-days visa-free travel agreement between Malaysia and China last year have seen exchanges between both sides breaking record-level in tourism spending and business trading.
Head of China Consulate General Office in Sarawak, Xing Weiping had recently said that doing away with the need to apply for entry visa have resulted in record-breaking bilateral social exchanges and also trade deals on both sides.
Speaking at a Spring Festival gathering organised by his office in Kuching early this year, he said for last year, bilateral trade volume between Malaysia and China had surpassed the US$190 billion mark.
"For 2024, the US$190 billion trade value between Malaysia and China was a record achieved from January to end November period.
"For this year, we (China and Malaysia) are expected to hit the US $ 200 billion mark in trade volume.
"The visa exemption deal for travel agreed by Malaysia and China have seen abundant benefits for both countries already," he said.
Xing said China is Malaysia's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years already. And, this scenario is expected to continue for many more years to come, he added.
"We expect to see a people to people exchange between Malaysia and China reaching to greater heights this year. The social and economic sectors are expected to enjoy more fruitful benefits from the increase in these exchanges," he said.
Last year also saw the number of China students coming to Malaysia to study reaching the 47,000 mark as of September 2024. - February 10, 2025
