File photo shows Flight ET 684 of Ethiopian Airlines taxies on the landing apron of Pudong International Airport in east China's Shanghai Municipality. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)

Ethiopia's flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is planning to open flights to three new Chinese destinations, an Ethiopian official has said.

Speaking exclusively to Xinhua, Dawit Temsgen, Communications Expert at ET, said Ethiopian Airlines is interested in opening up new routes to the Chinese cities of Chongqing, Shenzhen and Zhengzhou, and has requested permit to launch flights.

"Ethiopian and the Chinese government are working in collaboration to expedite the approval process and ET will start operation right away once it secures the permit," Temsgen said on Saturday.

Temsgen further said ET plans to expand its current operations to China by increasing its flight frequencies to popular destinations such as Guangzhou to twice daily.

ET currently operates daily passenger flights from Addis Ababa to Guangzhou and Beijing, and three-times-a-week passenger flights to Chengdu, as well as daily passenger and cargo flights to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Shanghai. ET was among the first African airlines to start flight services to China.