East China to Have Direct Flights to ROK During 2012 Yeosu Expo
Xinhua | Aug. 31, 2011
Direct flights connecting the cities of east China's Shandong Province and Yeosu in the Republic of Korea (ROK) will open during the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea, the event's organizer said Wednesday.
Air China, China Eastern and China Southern airlines have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the Expo's organizing committee regarding plans to open direct charter flights between Yeosu and Shandong's cities of Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and Jinan, Kang Dong-suk, chairman of the Expo 2012 Yeosu Organizing Committee, said in Jinan, capital city of Shandong.
Based on the MOU, these airlines are also planning to open charter flights between Yeosu and Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou and Shanghai, according to Kang.
Located across the sea from the ROK, Shandong is an important partner for economic and trade cooperation with the ROK.
By the end of 2010, Shandong had approved 20,600 investment projects in the ROK, and has attracted investments of nearly US$27 billion from the ROK, accounting for over 50 percent of ROK's total investment in China, said Liu Fanghui, president of the Shandong branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
The Expo will become a platform for promoting the Shandong peninsula's blue economic strategy and cooperation between the province and the ROK in the oceanic sector, said Liu.
Recognized by the Bureau of International Expositions, Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea will be held in Yeosu from May 12 to Aug. 12 next year, following the theme, "The Living Ocean and Coast."