China's first tour group arrived in the Finnish capital of Helsinki on Wednesday and received warm welcome from the Finnish side.

The 80 Chinese tourists will stay in the country for one to two days, and then visit other European countries.

Both officials of the Finnish Tourism Board and Cultural Counselor Wu Shiguang of the Chinese embassy believed that the increasing visits of Chinese tourists will help promote the friendly relations between the two countries.

Finland and 28 other European countries have become tourist destinations for Chinese citizens since Sept. 1.

Finnish official statistics show that 70,000 Chinese business travelers visited Finland in 2003 and the number is expected to rise to 250,000 in 2010.

(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2004)