China To Open Consulate General Office In Bali

Denpasar, Bali province, Oct 28 (antara) - China is set to open a consulate general office in Denpasar, Bali, to strengthen its bilateral ties with Indonesia, Chairman of the Indonesia Chinese Association in Bali Sudiarta Indrajaya said here on Tuesday. "China is planning to open its consulate general in Bali in December. We hope the consulate will help promote Bali among the Chinese people," stated Sudiarta. Earlier, Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali Panusunan Siregar noted that around 330,172 Chinese tourists visited Bali during the initial seven months of 2014, which is an increase of 45.76 percent as compared to 226,494 visitors recorded last year. "China is ranked second after Australia for its number of tourists visiting Bali," he added. Siregar explained that China has contributed 15.80 percent of the total number of tourists to Bali. This year, Bali has drawn about 2.08 million tourists, an increase of 16.66 percent as compared to 1.79 million tourists recorded in the previous year. The total number of Chinese tourists who traveled to Bali surpassed the number of travelers from Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia. In 2013, Bali received 3.27 million foreign tourists, which exceeded the target of about 2.8 million visitors set by the local tourism office. Tjokorda Gede Agung, a Bali tourism observer, observed that the Chinese have long known Bali as a paradise island. The cultural relation between China and Bali has led to deeper ties between Indonesia and China. Therefore, the number of Chinese tourists is increasing every year. Though Chinese tourist arrivals in Bali have increased, their numbers were relatively small as compared to the number of Chinese tourists traveling to other overseas destinations. "By maximizing various efforts, we can further draw a large number of foreign tourists from China," he emphasized.