Belt and Road Initiative offers great opportunities, says Georgia's vice-PM

A tourism-friendly destination

Not only famous for its wines, Georgia also has rich tourism resources.

The number of tourists increased by 54 percent last year, and there is huge potential to attract more Chinese tourists to Georgia, Kumsishvili said.

Last year, Georgia, a small country with a population of just 3.7 million, hosted 7.5 million international visitors, he said.

Georgia has all the facilities to serve Chinese tourists and offers some very interesting tourist attractions in the country, he added.

Georgia has signed an agreement with Alibaba, and it will provide all necessary support services such as e-visas, he said.

"We already have direct flight between Urumqi and Tbilisi," he added.

"Hualing Group launched a new airline My WAY in our country... and I do hope they will start flying to China," he said. 

Kumsishvili said he hopes Georgia will attract around 1 million Chinese tourists in the near future.

China hosted a cultural day of Georgia, and the country's minister of culture is working with China to host a cultural day in Georgia, Kumsishvili said.

The Confucius Institute at the Free University of Tbilisi and the Confucius Classroom at Tbilisi Open University were officially established in 2010 and 2017 respectively, according to Confucius Institute Headquarters.

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Georgia.

Contact the writer at guorong@chinadaily.com.cn