Regular direct flights will start between Luanda and Changsha, capital of the southern Chinese province of Hunan, this year, according to the Hunan Daily, which is run by the Communist Party of China Hunan Provincial Committee.

The service will make it easier for Chinese enterprises to do business in Angola, so prompting Sino-Angolan economic engagement, the newspaper reported on Monday.

The Chinese State Council, or cabinet, gave permission for the service last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its introduction, the report says.

Further air services between Hunan and Africa are in prospect, the Hunan Daily quotes a provincial official, Chen Huiqing, as saying.

In a separate report, Portuguese news agency Lusa quotes Angola’s Embassy in China as saying on Tuesday that Angolan state-owned airline TAAG will operate the Changsha-Luanda route.