“The travellers pouring off flight LV199 from Shanghai into the international airport of the Maldives, many dressed in designer labels, are an unmissable sign of China’s interest in the far-flung archipelago,” writes the AFP.
“Their arrival — Chinese visitors are now the biggest group of tourists to the Indian Ocean islands — has been accompanied by greater diplomatic engagement in the Maldives by Beijing, which is investing widely around South Asia.
Recently married Chen Hui and Fang Ye, 20-something business executives from near Shanghai, are returning for their second trip and heading to a resort by speed boat where over-the-water bungalows start at $500 a night.
“Most of our friends come here on their honeymoon,” Fang told AFP, who said they were looking forward to doing some fishing and posing for photos on the sun-kissed white sands that draw nearly a million visitors a year.”
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