East China's Jiangxi Province has launched its first direct coach service to Macao since the beginning of the new year, two months after it opened such a coach line to Hong Kong.

The direct coach line is operated between Ganzhou in southern Jiangxi and Macao by the Jiangxi New Century Automobile Transport Group Co. Ltd. and the China Travel Service (Macao) Ltd., a spokesman with the New Century company said.

A deluxe bus manufactured by the Germany-based Neoplan Bus GmbH departs from the Ganzhou Coach Terminal at 8:35 a.m. every day, and it takes passengers about 8 hours to reach Macao, the spokesman said.

Passengers are each charged 195 yuan (26.7 U.S. dollars) for the 669-km journey, he said.

They are transferred to another coach dispatched the China Travel Service (Macao) Ltd. at the Gongbei Customs in Zhuhai of Guangdong Province before arriving at their destination, the Bank of China Tower in Macao, he said.

"The new coach service is expected to boost the outbound tourism in Ganzhou and strengthen the links with Macao," he said.

Ganzhou, with a population of nearly 8.46 million, is the largest administrative region of Jiangxi, a cradle of Chinese revolution.

Statistics from local tourism authorities show that the number of travelers from Ganzhou to Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia has reported an annual growth of 17 percent in the past three years and reached 66,000 in 2006.

A direct coach service between Ganzhou and Hong Kong, the first of its kind, has been launched since Nov. 17, 2007, with two coaches traveling on the 7-hour journey every day.

(Gov.cn January 3, 2008)