General impressions

                                                       By Ajoa Yeboah Afari, From Beijing

To a foreigner, one indicator that China is enjoying a period of prosperity is its vibrant domestic tourism. Our group of visiting journalists has been very impressed with the huge numbers of domestic tourists at all the tourist sites we have been taken to.

One could only conclude that the people have spare cash in their pockets.

Another conclusion is that the official policy that couples should have only one child to check population rise, means that families have fewer to care for and thus have more money to spend on leisure activities. On the policy, researchers Tian Xueyuan and Zhou Liping in their book 'China's Population and Development' state:

"Overseas, China's family planning policy is often summarized as 'one child policy'. This is a misunderstanding. The Chinese government has never adopted a 'one child' policy. The fact is that, while advocating that each couple give birth to one child, the government says that, with approval, couples with actual difficulties may have a second child. "

Being the most populous nation in the world, with 1.3 billion people, population is, of course, central to all its planning and development plans. One official speaking through an interpreter said in response to a question on his country's alleged military build-up:"China will never pursue hegemony or pose a threat to any country. With a population of 1.3 billion, China is now focused on development because we have a heavy burden. Development is our aim."

Another pointed out that China's economy has an impact on the rest of the world because of their numbers."We need a good economy because of the population. If not well managed, it could pose a huge burden for the world economy."China's economic base includes industry, technology and agriculture.

The economic advancement was a strong factor that helped win the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, said Sun Weide, Deputy Director for Communication of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games."China has made tremendous progress in the past 20 years, and the economy has been growing at about 10 percent every year".

The slogan for the 29th Olympiad is "One World One Dream".

As can be expected, determined to fully use the opportunity to showcase its development to the global audience, China is in a fever of preparations for the event-including not only building new sports venues, but also buying more, bigger airplanes, more environmentally friendly cars, building new roads and the planting of more trees and flowers to improve the air quality even more.

Commenting on the Games' business opportunities. Mr. Sun added:"The Beijing Game will also bring business opportunities for African countries. In 2000, the trade volume between China and Africa was 10 billion US dollars; in 2004 the volume reached 29.46 billion dollars."

Currently 12 African countries are on the list of "approved " tourist destinations. These include South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Uganda, Mauritius and Zimbabwe. The rest are: Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Tunisia and Zambia.

It is a reflection of the high quality of their tourist venues and arrangements that the Chinese themselves patronize them so much.

For example, in 2004, of the 25000 tourists who visited sites in Shapotu, only about 6000 were foreigner-mostly from Japan, South Korea, the United States and France.

West Africa is noticeably absent from the list of Chinese tourist destination in Africa. In view of the vast potential of that market, and from what we experienced, their own high expertise in tourism, one might suggest that this is yet another country that Ghana could learn from and also seek collaboration with in that field.

Apart from the obvious financial benefits of Ghana-China cooperation in tourism, it would also foster better relationships between Chinese and Ghanaians, as well as other Africans. The few African students we met complained about the occasional racism they have to contend with, Mr. G Mumuni, a Phd student from Benin however attributed it to ignorance and lack of the right, fair information on Africa.

He said the racist comments were usually linked to what the people see or hear about Africa through the media."Your journalists have a role to play in this,"he said.

(The writer, Editor of the Ghanaian Times, is among a group of 22 journalists from English speaking Africa who are currently visiting China at the invitation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China).

Sources: the Ghanaian Times