China will allow its travel agencies to organize tour groups to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the Chinese government has decided to grant approved destination status to the neighboring country, China's National Tourism Administration (NTA) announced on Tuesday.

Group tours to the DPRK will start "at an appropriate time after the two countries negotiate details and sign official agreements," a statement from the NTA quoted its deputy head Du Jiang as saying when he met his DPRK counterpart during a visit to the country last Friday.

Du said 2009, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-DPRK diplomatic relations, would be a good opportunity for both countries to enhance cooperation in tourism, said Du.

"I believe China and the DPRK will further develop their relations and have closer cooperation," the statement quoted Du as saying.

Deputy Director Kang Chul-soo of the DPRK National Tourism Administration said the DPRK considered China as an important tourist source and hoped China could offer assistance in such fields as tourism promotion and personnel training.

Air China, the leading Chinese carrier, launched direct service from Beijing to Pyongyang in March. It is the only foreign airline to offer scheduled flights to the DPRK capital.

China approved 135 countries and regions as outbound destinations before the DPRK gained the status.

Chinese made 40.95 million outbound trips in 2007, more than any other Asian country and about 20 percent up from the previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2008)