A Boeing 747-400 cargo plane with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) airline logo landing at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai on Sunday marked the first cargo flight connecting the UAE's Dubai to the Chinese mainland.

Pradeep Kumer, general manager of Emirates Sky Cargo, an arm of the airline Emirates, who was in Shanghai for the launch of his company's new regular cargo route, said the service was of great significance for promoting trade between China and the UAE.

China had great potential for air transport, said Kumer, adding his company was preparing to launch a passenger service to the Chinese mainland.

As from Sept. 15 a Boeing 747-400 will make one cargo flight from Shanghai to Dubai every Sunday, taking about eight hours.

UAE is one of the best-known oil-rich countries in the world with proven oil reserves of 98 billion barrels. Trade between the UAE and China now exceeds 2 billion US dollars. China's imports from the UAE include crude oil, chemical fertilizers and polyethylene, while the UAE's imports from China are mainly computers, bicycles, TV sets, time pieces and acoustic equipment.

Emirates, founded in 1985, now flies to over 60 cities in the world

( People's Daily September 19, 2002)