WELLINGTON - Direct daily flights between China and New Zealand launched by China Southern Airlines one year ago have boosted Chinese visitor numbers to New Zealand by almost 40 percent, Auckland Airport announced Wednesday.

New Zealand's economy had reaped the benefits of the service, with increased Chinese visitor spending, airport CEO Adrian Littlewood said in a statement.

"This significant increase in visitor arrival numbers and spending is a clear indication that increasing air links between countries is an important factor in growing tourism revenue," said Littlewood.

"In September this year we saw Chinese visitor numbers leap by 74.2 percent compared with the previous September, with arrivals from the Guangdong Province, the home of China Southern, increasing by nearly 60 percent year-on-year."

China Southern Airlines and other parties, such as government agency Tourism New Zealand and Auckland Airport, had invested heavily in promoting New Zealand within China, and would continue to do so, he said.

China Southern Airlines launched its Canton route last month, connecting Australasian countries with Europe via Guangzhou, as part of its expansion plan for the region, which includes plans for a twice daily service on the Auckland to Guangzhou route.

"China Southern Airlines is committed to investing in and growing our service with New Zealand as part of our expansion plans for Australasia," China Southern Airlines New Zealand general manager Henry Dai said in the statement.

"The past year has shown us there is demand for greater travel between our two countries for both leisure and business purposes and we look forward to working with New Zealand authorities and the industry to develop our service further."

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said in the statement that the growth in visitor numbers showed the demand that existed in China for travel to countries such as New Zealand.

The 11.5-hour daily China Southern Airlines service between Auckland and Guangzhou had also helped New Zealand businesses to engage more easily with southern China, said the statement.

On Tuesday, New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Development announced that China was officially New Zealand's second biggest tourist market, after spending by Chinese visitors jumped by 37 percent in the year to the end of September.

Chinese visitors spent 555 million NZ dollars ($458.15 million) in the year ending September, which put them ahead of spending by travelers from the United Kingdom (545 million NZ dollars) for the first time, according to the ministry.

However, Chinese visitors would have to more than triple their spending to overtake New Zealand's largest tourist market Australia, which is 1.7 billion NZ dollars.