China and 12 European Union nations signed the preliminary draft of a memorandum of understanding on tourism Thursday.

The signing countries were Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Greece, Italy, Sweden and Finland.

Officials with the China National Tourism Administration pointed out that the MOU will pave the way for Chinese tour groups to visit Europe.

So far, China has signed formal agreements on tourism with 27 nations.

(People's Daily October 31, 2003)