On Monday, the Chinese government persuades the French government to enforce effective measures to ensure the protection of its nationals who are visiting France after 40 Chinese tourists were tear-gassed and robbed in Paris.
The attacks on Asian tourists are common as robbers tend to believe these tourists carry large sums of cash with them and their luggage contain expensive products.
At least four men targetted a group of Chinese tourists in the parking lot of their hotel in Val-de-Marne on Thursday after their return from a city tour. According to the report of Xinhua and French media outfits on Sunday, the suspects stole nine bags from the tourists, believing they were filled with luxury items.
The Chinese embassy in France were quick to call the police about the case according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, advising Chinese tourists to also stay alert to the current security situation in France.
Hua said, "We wil urge French police to crack this case as soon as they can and bring the criminals to justice, and take even more effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in France."
Hua also said the robbed tour group already returned to China and the case is still under investigation.
This is not the first time a large group of Chinese tourists were targetted by robbers. In August 2016, 27 Chinese tourists were attacked by six men who boarded the bus that would take them to Charles de Gaulle airport.
According to reports from the city's tourist bureau, Paris is right on track in its targets to welcome more tourists after the wave of Islamist attacks in the country since November 2015.
Last year, Chinese tourists spent $261 billion overseas, making them a huge market for hotel chains and travel agencies. However, this rate is now slowing down after the various attacks in Europe, the issue in the Korean peninsula and the political uncertainty brought by the United States' current leadership.
