Emirates Airlines said on Friday that China has become one of the most popular destinations for travelers from Zambia and that the market is healthy and growing.

"China is an important market for Emirates, which is the largest operator from Lusaka to China and the market is healthy and growing," Husain Alsafi, the airline's manager for Zambia said in a statement emailed to Xinhua.

According to the official, China has become one of the most popular destination countries for travelers from Zambia, adding that Zambia's specialist Far Eastern travel agents are reporting record demand from Chinese expatriates looking for flights for business and leisure trips back home.

Zambian business people and traders are also discovering the advantages of traveling with Emirates to China, he added.

The airlines flies daily directly from Lusaka, the Zambian capital, to Dubai, connecting to eight-flights-a-day to destinations in China. The airline flies to four destinations in China namely Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

"China has become its most popular destination at various times of the year since the airline began flying from Lusaka in February 2012, with Beijing and Shanghai the most visited cities there, followed by Hong Kong and Guangzhou," the official said.

The airline, however, said Johannesburg city, South Africa, is its most popular city destination overall for air passengers from Lusaka followed by Nairobi in Kenya, Bombay in India, Harare in Zimbabwe and London in Britain.

"When outbound destinations are aggregated by country, however, China's main cities make the country as a whole among the most popular national destinations," he said.