Cyprus would strengthen cooperation in economy and tourism with China, President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos has said in Nicosia in a written interview with Xinhua before paying a five-day state visit to China on Dec. 4.

He highly valued the economic and trade cooperation between his country and China in recent years, saying that "recent years have witnessed a fast growth in trade relations between our two sides and this development naturally is greatly facilitated by the existence of a framework of excellent political relations between Cyprus and China."

Papadopoulos said that during his Dec. 4-8 visit to China, he hoped to explore ways to further enhance cooperation in economy and tourism.

He said "we would encourage, for instance, the registration and establishment of international (offshore) companies by Chinese entrepreneurs in Cyprus, as well as Chinese investment in our country. Cyprus has the lowest corporation tax in the European Union, at a level of 10 percent on taxable profit of such companies."

Papadopoulos also said "I was pleased to learn that Cyprus has officially been added to the list of tourist destinations for Chinese tourists," and Cyprus would take further steps to satisfy the needs of Chinese tourists and provide good service for them.

The president added that Cyprus would strengthen cooperation with Chinese travel agencies organizing multi-country trips to Europe and hoped the Chinese agencies would list Cyprus on their tourist maps.

Source: Xinhua