One of the vessels from the 45th Chinese naval escort task force docked in Seychelles' Port Victoria on Thursday morning and was welcomed by officials from the Chinese Embassy, the community of Chinese in the island nation as well as teachers from the Confucius Institute.

The ETF 18 or Urumqi is a boat named after the city of Xinjiang, China, and its arrival in Seychelles was greeted by a dragon dance.

Upon its arrival, an official from the vessel came ashore to meet with the Chinese community, the Chinese Ambassador to Seychelles, Lin Nan and the Chief of Staff of the Seychelles Defence Forces, Jean Attala. They were then invited to visit the ship.

An official from the vessel came ashore to meet the Chinese community. (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Visitors had a guided tour where the officers on board explained the different features of the ship and the different equipment they use.

Speaking to the media, the chairperson of the Chinese Association of Seychelles, Rose-Mary Lee-Bluemner said, "We are very happy to be here. There are about 200 of us who came to welcome the ship this morning. I am happy to be able to visit the ship as well, it was very impressive."

The director of the Confucius Institute at the University in Seychelles, Jianmei Zhang, said, "We are very proud to have been invited to visit Urumqi. This ship represents our strong backbone and our strength as the People's Republic of China. The Seychellois are also visiting the ship and we hope this gesture strengthens the relationship between the two countries."