4 | Monday, June 29, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY CHINA Holiday sees further revival in tourism Visitor numbers reach half of last year’s tally, but Beijing less popular By CHENG SI 1.35 million visitors, down 76.8 [email protected] percent year-on-year, with reve- nue down 75.9 percent to 72.4 mil- The domestic tourism market lion yuan. continued to recover over the just- Strict COVID-19 control meas- completed Dragon Boat Festival ures implemented nationwide holiday, although people remain during the holiday made reserva- wary of traveling after new clus- tions for visits common. ters of COVID-19 infection were Wang Xiaosong, president of reported in Beijing. Lvmama, an online travel agency The Ministry of Culture and in Shanghai, said that making res- Tourism said attractions around ervations has become a new habit the country received over 48.8 mil- for tourists as coronavirus preven- lion visitors during the three-day tion work is normalized. break from Thursday to Saturday “About 80 percent of our users — just over half the number in the reserved their packages on the same period last year. platform during the holiday to Tourism-related revenue over make sure they could get access to the holiday totaled 12.3 billion attractions,” he said. “Of course, An ARJ21 regional jetliner is delivered to Air China in Shanghai on Sunday, when three major Chinese airlines took delivery of the domesti- yuan ($1.7 billion) — about 31.2 they still care most about sanita- cally made aircraft. YIN LIQIN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE percent of that in 2019. tion conditions and the safety of By comparison, tourist numbers the destination.” nationwide were down more than By June 22, 10,064 domestic 60 percent year-on year for the attractions had reopened to tour- three-day Tomb Sweeping Day ists, but they must limit numbers Airlines give boost to homegrown regional jet holiday in early April. The per- to 30 percent of their maximum formance for the May Day holiday reception capacity to maintain was better, with numbers down social distancing. By WANG YING in Shanghai introduce the aircraft model beyond ing phase, the ARJ21 is entering the Chinese manufactured aircraft, just over 40 percent, but it lasted Short-distance tours — seen as [email protected] China’s borders.” second phase to prove itself through including the ARJ21 and the future five days this year and just four last being safer — were also preferred The ARJ21, or Advanced Regional market operation. The top three air- C919. year. by tourists during the holiday. China’s top three airlines received Jet for the 21st Century, is a regional lines’ strengths in maintenance, sys- Liu Shaoyong, chairman of China The five provinces that received Lvmama said 40 percent of its their first homegrown ARJ21 air- aircraft developed and manufac- tem operation and technology will Eastern, said OTT Airlines, or One the most tourists during the Drag- users went to destinations within planes in Shanghai on Sunday from tured by China in accordance with help COMAC further improve the Two Three Airlines, will take advan- on Boat Festival holiday were their own cities or provinces Commercial Aircraft Corporation of international standards. aircraft through thorough and sys- tage of its location in the transporta- Guangdong, Sichuan, Henan, because they remain cautious China (COMAC), paving the way for COMAC has delivered 32 ARJ21 tematic operation, Lin added. tion nexus of the Yangtze River Shandong and Jiangsu, while the about the novel coronavirus out- the aircraft to join the fleets of the models to clients since 2015, includ- Before delivering the 90-seat air- Delta and access the great demand strongest recoveries in tourism break, and they also preferred to world’s mainstream airlines. ing Chengdu Airlines and Jiangxi craft to the three airlines, COMAC from people in China’s coastal cities were seen in the provinces of drive themselves. The delivery ceremony was held Air. Over the past four years, the air- made full preparations for follow- and surrounding areas. Hebei, Hainan and Sichuan. The holiday has also become a at COMAC’s base in the city’s Pud- craft has been flown in 55 Chinese up operations in terms of staff train- Against the backdrop of the ongo- Beijing, traditionally a popular shopping festival, spurred by lives- ong district. The three major carri- cities and has safely transported ing, aviation material arrangement ing COVID-19 pandemic, many destination for tourists, saw sharp treaming promotions and special ers — Air China, China Eastern more than 890,000 passenger trips. and support for maintenance, global flights have either been can- declines in visitor numbers and offers from e-commerce operators. Airlines and China Southern Air- Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry repair and intime monitoring, celed or are operating at low utiliza- tourism-related revenue due to The courier industry delivered lines — took the aircraft back to analyst and columnist at car- Zhang said. tion rates. But Qi Qi, an associate enhanced pandemic control and over 651 million packages during their headquarters. noc.com, one of China’s biggest civil The top three Chinese carriers professor at Guangzhou Civil Avia- prevention measures after cases of the holiday, up 47.68 percent year- To facilitate their fleet layout and aviation websites, said the delivery each ordered 35 ARJ21 aircraft from tion College, said regional and local transmission began to be on-year, the State Post Bureau said network planning, the three carriers of the ARJ21s to the nation’s three COMAC last August, with all the jets short-haul aviation markets were in reported on June 11. on Sunday. Online sales of tradi- sent experienced engineers to the biggest airlines was a meaningful to be delivered before the end of a more favorable position, particu- Data from the capital’s Culture tional foods such as zongzi — assembly line to ensure their specif- moment. 2024. larly for places not covered by high- and Tourism Bureau showed that made of glutinous rice — soared ic needs were met. “Throughout the research and Air China will deploy its first speed train networks. attractions across the city received during the holiday. They will each receive two more development of Chinese manufac- ARJ21 jet from Beijing Capital Inter- “The nation’s insufficient regional ARJ21 jets this year, sources said. tured aircraft, there are three pha- national Airport to destinations in aviation network and shortage of “According to the schedule, the ses — to build the aircraft, to fly well the Inner Mongolia autonomous domestic regional aircraft leaves nine aircraft will start commercial and to be profitable,” Lin said. region, including Xiliinhot, Baotou, great market potential for high- flights this year,” Zhang Xiaoguang, According to experts, as a region- Ulaanhot and Hohhot. quality development of China’s head of COMAC’s marketing and al aircraft, the ARJ21 is more suita- China Southern Airlines, based in regional aviation and Chinese man- sales division, was quoted as saying ble for less popular destinations Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong ufactured airplanes,” Qi said. by Shanghai Observer with stable flight frequency province, plans to gain experience Publicly available information Xie Yuanzheng, a flight instructor demand in comparison with main- in ARJ21 operations and optimize shows that less than 3 percent of with COMAC and a former China stream commercial aircraft the stability and economy of the air- China’s civil aircraft are regional Eastern pilot, said, “The operation designed for long-distance flights craft. jets, with about 80 percent of of the ARJ21 by the nation’s top between destinations with strong In February, Shanghai-based Chi- regional flights completed by other three airlines will greatly boost our travel demand. na Eastern Airlines formed OTT Air- domestic and intercontinental air- confidence and encourage us to After completing the manufactur- lines, which specializes in operating craft. Eight GM plant species pass safety tests for import Calligraphy enthusiasts write with brushes during a tourism fes- tival celebrating traditional culture in Zizhong, Sichuan province, By WANG XIAODONG released by the ministry on Tuesday. accepts the safety of approved ket have passed safety evaluations on Sunday. HUANG ZHENGHUA / FOR CHINA DAILY [email protected] Applicants for the certificates GMOs, which offer superior yields and are safe, the ministry said. included both domestic and foreign and better pest resistance. However, Although encouraging scientific Eight genetically modified plant agricultural companies. their safety has sometimes been a research and development in GMO species have passed safety evalua- Meanwhile, the ministry also source of public concern, both in technology, the ministry has been tions for import, the Ministry of awarded safety certificates allowing China and abroad. cautious in its commercialization, Flood: Ministry demands Agriculture and Rural Affairs said. the use and production of 117 geneti- In addition to acquiring safety with only a few GM agricultural The five corn and three soybean cally modified organisms and prod- certificates, GMO researchers and plants, such as GM corn and cotton, intensified relief efforts species have characteristics such as ucts. developers have to complete some having been approved for commer- resistance to pests and weed killers. Most of the products approved other procedures before the prod- cial planting in China. Some other They will only be used as materials are GM pest-resistant cotton species ucts can be made available on the GM plants, such as soybean, are From page 1 The Ministry of Water Resources for processing and not for any other that can now be grown in specific domestic market. only allowed to be imported as warned of the risk of major floods purpose, such as being planted in areas of China. The others include China adopts very strict stan- material for food processing.