Hundreds of workers from a Chinese firm have launched a group tour to South Korea, raising speculation that Beijing is easing its retaliatory ban on group tour programs. 

According to Asiana Airlines, around 600 executives and employees of Anya, a Chinese cosmetics company, were scheduled to board its flight heading to South Korea on Friday. 

The group, comprised of workers from 16 Chinese cities, will tour the country for five days through Wednesday to experience the South Korean cosmetics market and attend a seminar with local industry figures. 

The airline said it is the single largest tour group from China since the Chinese government imposed retaliatory economic measures in protest of the deployment of a U.S. THAAD antimissile system in South Korea.