FIRST Minister Arlene Foster has met China's most powerful female politician, Vice Premier Liu Yandong, as part of a four-day visit to the country.
Among the topics for discussion during her first day in Shanghai on Monday was the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction.
Ms Foster met with the Chinese ministers of education, culture and finance as part of the UK-China People to People 2016 initiative.
She said: "As part of that important dialogue I discussed our tourism product. Although we have already surpassed the target of 50,000 tourists from China this year, we want to see this figure continue to rise.
"In the last few days alone, Belfast's iconic Titanic Belfast attraction has been crowned the world’s leading tourist attraction.
"This fantastic achievement once again puts the global spotlight on Northern Ireland and is further proof of our ability to deliver on a world-wide scale."
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness had been due to accompany the DUP leader on the trip, but pulled out due to "unforeseen personal circumstances".
On Tuesday, Ms Foster will meet with Friends of Northern Ireland, an organisation established in Shanghai last year by diaspora who wanted to maintain connections with and help promote local businesses in China.
"Our global family remains a vital part of our social and economic progress," she said.
"I will be listening to people who have established themselves in China and look forward to hearing how the Northern Ireland Executive’s Bureau in Beijing is already assisting in this."
Meanwhile, Donald Trump's vow to heavily-tax US companies moving operations abroad has not dented the British government's optimism about attracting fresh investment to Northern Ireland, the Secretary of State has said.
James Brokenshire said he remained positive about the potential for growing US economic ties under a Trump White House.
The president-elect took to Twitter over the weekend to warn US companies they would be making an "expensive mistake" if they cost domestic jobs by relocating operations overseas.
He suggested they would be subject to a 35 per cent tax if they tried to sell products made abroad back into the US.
Around 125 US companies operate in Northern Ireland, employing 24,000 people.
Asked about Mr Trump's protectionist rhetoric, Mr Brokenshire, who is in New York to meet with business representatives, said: "The US president-elect said during the campaign on equally doing a trading deal with the United Kingdom too.
"So I think we need to judge by the actions of the presidency."
The Tory MP added: "I remain positive and optimistic in relation to the new presidency as to the relationship we will have with President-elect Trump and his team".
