NEGOTIATIONS on a direct flight between Nadi and Shanghai in China are close to being finalised and will help strengthen ties between Fiji and China.
This was confirmed to this newspaper by China’s Ambassador to Fiji Zhou Jian during a press conference last week on the worsening trade war between China and the United States of America (US).
“With China and Fiji at the negotiation table for the details of the direct flight between Nadi and Shanghai, both sides are very positive and we’re coming closer and closer so we are expecting to finalise negotiations by the end of this year,” Mr Zhou said.
“I myself am looking forward to this good news from both sides.”
The flight, he said, should take roughly 10 hours.
“The most important thing is it will greatly facilitate Chinese tourists coming to Fiji.
“For example, if Chinese people take a flight at five o’ clock in the evening, in the early morning of the next day, they are on a beach of Nadi. They will enjoy the beautiful beach and water of Fiji.
“So this will greatly facilitate the people-to-people exchange, mostly the tourists.
“Not only in Nadi, there are others. I’ve been to Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Kadavu, so there are quite a lot of places to visit. Fiji has a lot to offer.”
Mr Zhou said more Chinese were getting to know about Fiji and he urged Fiji to open its doors in order to take full advantage of China’s 1.4 billion people market.
“They now know more about Fiji because we now have a frequent people-to-people exchange and this year, we have around 50,000 Chinese tourists come to Fiji and Fiji companies come to China to attend the import expo and most importantly, both China and Fiji have doubled efforts to advertise and promote Fiji in China and for years, we know Fiji is a friendly country,” he said.
“Fiji is a beautiful country and many Chinese people know that
“They would like to come here for honeymoon, for anniversary or more so I believe this direct flight will facilitate the trend.
“Now is the time.”
Mr Zhou said with the current trade war between the US and China playing out in the big markets, Fiji could use the lull to push for more trade with China in both goods and services.
Note: This article was first published on the print version of the Fiji Times dated April 21, 2025
