Tourists from China will be allowed to use Chinese currency yuan during their stay in the country starting July 18, the local Myanmar Times reported in its latest issue.

To attract more visitors from China, Myanmar's northern neighbor, Chinese tourists will be permitted to bring in 6,000 yuan (725.5 US dollars) without declaring to the Myanmar customs, the Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism was quoted as saying.

Myanmar earned 2 million yuan (241,837 dollars) from Chinese tourists in 2001, the report said.

In December 2000, Myanmar and China endorsed a memorandum of understanding on the implementation plan for outbound travel to Myanmar by Chinese citizens at their own expenses.

According to official statistics, tourist arrivals in Myanmar went to 119,000 in 2001, a drop of 49.32 percent over 2000. Of them, Chinese tourists took up 2,981 or 2.5 percent only.

( People's Daily July 15, 2002 )