China has become Sri Lanka's second largest source of visitors in north Asia, said Nihal Rodrigo, Sri Lanka ambassador to China.

Sri Lanka hopes to attract over 250,000 Chinese visitors by 2010, he said.

According to latest statistics, Sri Lanka received 6,600 Chinese tourists from January to October this year, up 6 percent over the previous year, only after Japan.

Rodrigo said China and Sri Lanka have traditional friendship. Six hundred years ago, ancient Chinese sailor Zheng He traveled to Sri Lanka. After Sri Lanka gained the Approved Destination Status, the number of Chinese travelers to Sri Lanka has kept rising.

He said China had promised to help establish a Confucius center in order to train more Mandarin speaking guides and publish more Chinese pamphlets on scenic spot introduction.

Sri Lankan Airlines has launched flights to Beijing since June this year. Now it operates three weekly flights and plans to make it a daily flight route, said Chanaka Olagama, general manager of the airline company in China.

As a famous nation of Buddhism, the culture and the beautiful scene of Sri Lanka always attract Chinese tourists. "Nature, exploration and Buddhism" are the main theme of trip to Sri Lanka.

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2005)