A YACHT from China on a mission to sail around the world is at dock at the Royal Papua Yacht Club in Port Moresby.

Great Olympic sailed into the Port Moresby harbour on Friday at about 2pm --15 days after setting out of Brisbane, Australia.

Owner of the vessel Zhang Wei said yesterday he and his friend Wang Lianjie planned to travel to as many parts of the world as possible in their yacht.

The pair started out in 2000 from Beijing, sailing to Vanuatu, New Zealand, and New Caledonia.

This year, they set sail from Brisbane and plan to visit Bali, Indonesia before sailing through the Mediterranean Sea.

He said his yacht was the first from China registered to sail internationally.

Yachting was a sport that was becoming popular in Beijing where he lived as people have more money to spend now with the continuing growth of the Chinese economy, he said.