First direct flight between Shanghai, Central Asia launched

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The first direct flight linking Central Asia and Shanghai sent 110 passengers to Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Friday morning.

The Kazakhstan's Scat Airlines operated the flight on Thursday, taking off from Shymkent, a regional cultural and economic center of the country.

The Shanghai-Shymkent flight will run every Tuesday and Friday from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and backward from Shymkent on Mondays and Thursdays (local time). 

The flight is expected to further enrich Shanghai's international aviation network amid the city's efforts to become an international aviation hub, and create a more convenient air channel for the exchanges and collaboration of economy, trade, tourism, and culture between China and Kazakhstan. 

"When we visited Chengdu last time, we had to fly to Beijing and then transfer to Chengdu, costing us 10-12 hours. Now visiting China becomes easier as the new flight from Shymkent opened," said a Kazakh tourist named Ruslan.

"We come to China to Shanghai for traveling. I wanna see new places," said another Kazakh tourist named Ayalumu.

The Scat Airlines is planning to increase the flight from twice per week to once per day, reaching an expected annual passenger flow of 55,000-60,000.

The new route is a latest development of the aviation network constructed by Shanghai Airport (Group) that connects 291 destinations in 48 countries worldwide. Since last year, the group has been actively restoring and expanding its international aviation network to offer more diversified air traveling options.

First direct flight between Shanghai, Central Asia launched

The Republic of Korea (ROK) and China should cherish the historical experience of jointly resisting aggression and continue to work together for a prosperous future, said ROK President Lee Jae Myung.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Lee will pay a state visit to China from Jan 4 to 7. It will be Lee's first visit to China since he took office last year.

In an interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Seoul on Wednesday, Lee said that humanity must learn from the past to prevent the tragedy of war from repeating itself.

"While pursuing their own national interests to the fullest extent, countries must not harm the national interests of others, but should coexist peacefully. The act of invading other countries and massacring their people for one's own benefit must never be repeated. History of humanity often repeats itself, therefore we must learn from the past. In this regard, I believe the historical experience of ROK and China in resisting aggression and fighting together is invaluable. Of course, while historical experience is important, we cannot remain stuck in the past. For a better future for the people of both countries, we need to continuously explore possibilities for working together towards the future," said the president.

ROK president calls for learning lesson from anti-aggression history

ROK president calls for learning lesson from anti-aggression history