The United Kingdom and China have agreed to raise the limit on the number of direct weekly flights between the two nations to 150 from 100. Such services are regulated internationally, typically through bilateral agreements that limit the number and type of flights. Several new services have been set up recently, including a direct route between Manchester and Beijing operated by Hainan Airlines, and China Airlines' renewal of a London-Taipei link. Between January and June, 115,000 visitors from China arrived in the UK, an increase of 47 percent on the same period in 2016. Local authorities in several large UK cities, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Birmingham, have lobbied extensively for direct links with China.