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Switzerland gave a warm reception in Geneva on Saturday to the first Chinese tourist group which takes advantage of a new Sino-Swiss agreement on tourism.

Swiss tourism officials as well as the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva welcomed the Chinese guests upon their arrival.

The Swiss host arranged a special tour for the special tourists, which included visiting and dining at Palais des Nations, the building of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The 140-meter-high fountain "Jet d'Eau", which is Geneva's symbol, was also made colorful for the particular moment.

Michel Ferla, vice president of Switzerland Tourism, the national tourist office, announced that the host country of the annual Geneva Festival in 2005 would be China.

Zhu Bangzao, the Chinese ambassador to Switzerland who was also present at the welcoming ceremony, said that traveling is the most perceptual and direct way to know a country and to understand its people, and he welcomes more Swiss tourists to visit China, too.

Besides Geneva, the 55-person group will also visit Switzerland ' s two top tourist cities, Interlaken and Lucerne.

Switzerland is the second leg of the 12-day tour, which began in France on Wednesday and will end in Italy.

Switzerland Tourism "has reason to celebrate" since "the arrival of the group is proof that Beijing's decision to grant European Union members and Switzerland 'Approved Destination Status' (ADS) is about to bear fruit," said an official website of Switzerland, Swissinfo.

ADS opens the door for everyone in China who can afford a trip to Europe, since they no longer need to apply for special travel permission from the government.

According to Swissinfo, Switzerland Tourism is predicting that the number of nights Chinese spend in Swiss hotels will treble to 300,000 by 2007, putting them second only to the Japanese among Asian travelers, and it is the first good news the tourist industry has received in many years.