China Youth Travel Service (CYTS) and world-famous travel group Cendant established a joint venture travel agency Wednesday, aiming to serve China's growing number of individual travelers. CYTS owns 60 percent of the company.

With registered capital reaching 140 million yuan (US$17 million), the new company set a record for joint venture travel agencies.

Cooperation will enable the new company to make full use of Cendant's worldwide network to reserve air tickets and hotels for individual travelers, said Jiang Jianning, CEO of CYTS.

CYTS also established a partnership relation with RCI company, Cendant's subsidiary company. The two partners joined hands in the outbound, inbound and domestic tourism markets, as well as promoting a new leisure tourism product in the first half of next year.

Jiang said, RCI has many hotel and resorts around the world, and has more than 3 million members. CYTS can provide services to members who travel to China, and help Chinese RCI members to apply for visas.

Listed in the United States, Cendant now has a value of over US$30 billion, making it the 106th largest company in the world. Two weeks ago, Cendant bought European travel company Gulliver, which opened the first foreign-owned travel agency in Beijing.

Established in 1980 and listed on stock market in 1997, CYTS is now engaged in business covering tourism, finance, real estate, e-business and hotels.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2004)