Iran seeks to turn China into 1st tourism partner: minister

TEHRAN, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Reza Salehi Amiri said on Monday that the country has set a target to turn China into its first tourism partner, reported the state-run IRIB news agency.

Highlighting the large number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad each year, the minister said: "We should claim our share of this market." He noted that Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi is following up on that objective.

Earlier this month, Salehi Amiri said the number of Chinese tourists visiting Iran should increase in view of the high-level ties between the two countries.

To attract more Chinese tourists, Iran has implemented a unilateral visa-free policy for Chinese citizens since July 2019 and has trained dozens of Chinese-speaking tour guides.

The country has also prepared catalogues for Chinese tourists in their own language to enable them to gain more knowledge about Iran's culture while visiting the country's museums and sites.