CHENGDU -?Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, is set to open nine new direct international flights, local authorities said Monday.

Agreements with the city government and airline companies from home and abroad were signed at the 22th World Route Development Conference on Sunday.

The flights will go to Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, Madrid, Sochi, Addis Ababa, Dubai, Moscow and Auckland.

All the routes are expected to open steadily over the following year.