New direct air service from the central Chinese city of Changsha to Osaka, Japan, will begin on December 27, a Chinese tourism official said on Friday.

China Southern Airlines will operate a direct flight between the two cities once every week, said Liu Zhiming, deputy head of the Hunan Provincial Tourism Administration.

"The new air service is aimed at attracting more Japanese tourists to Hunan and boosting exchanges between the province and Japan," Liu said.

Changsha is the provincial capital of Hunan, hometown of late Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of friendship ties between Hunan and Japan's Shiga-ken Prefecture, which is close to Osaka.

"That's another reason for us to launch the air service," Liu said.

He did not provide more details about the new service but said if it was popular, the airline would offer two flights per week.

Hunan received 52,000 Japanese tourists last year, indicating a year-on-year increase of 47 percent, statistics with the Hunan Provincial Tourism Administration show. In the first eight months of this year, 40,000 Japanese tourists visited the province.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2008)