Maldives President: China leading in renewable energy

Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Republic of Maldives, received exclusive interview with China Daily on his first state visit in China at the sideline of the Shanghai World Expo.

According to statistics provided by the Maldives Tourist Promotion Board (MTPB), China ranked the 8th in the year 2008 with 40,000 of its people choosing Maldives to be their tourist destination. This number has increased by 50,000 in 2009-2010 due to the charter flight that started in September 2009 between Guangzhou and Maldives, making China the 4th biggest contributor to Maldives tourism industry.

Operated by China Southern Airlines, this only direct flight connecting China and Maldives is catered by Nanhu Business Travel Limited Company (Guangzhou). It has already sent 15,000 passengers by April 2010.

Also this April, Nanhu Business and Paradise Holiday (Hong Kong) jointly hosted the filming tour of a program by Hunan TV, which was stared with many well-known Chinese pop singers.

It takes only 6.5 hours now to fly to Maldives from China and the charter flight is running on a twice-a-week basis – every Thursday and Sunday.

by Christie Lee & Huang Lan