The Republic of Korea (ROK) hosted a promotion drive Tuesday in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province in east China to attract more Chinese to visit the country.

Choi Jae-Geun, chief representative with the Beijing office of the Korea National Tourism Organization, said the World Cup next year jointly hosted by ROK and Japan is sure to serve as a new drawing card to the Chinese whose national soccer team has already qualified.

He says 2002 is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries adding that the 14th Asian Games will be held in ROK next year.

A total of 359,400 Chinese tourists visited ROK, one of China'sofficial outbound destinations, from January to September this year, up 6.5 percent on 2000. During the same period of time, China received 1.2537 million tourists from ROK, up 20.67 percent.

The drive is meant to help tourists learn more about services and tourist itineraries in ROK.

(People's Daily November 14,2001)