ASEAN media to explore south Anhui Province, promote tourism exchanges

A media delegation from ten ASEAN countries and major Chinese international publicity media organizations embarked on an interview journey to south Anhui Province on Friday, aiming to promote exchanges between the region and ASEAN countries .

In the next six days, an interview delegation consisting of nearly 40 journalists from about more than 30 media of ASEAN countries and Chinese central key international publicity media outlets will interview Hefei, Anqing, Chizhou and Xuancheng in central China’s Anhui P

rovince. They will experience and showcase the charm of south Anhui province international culture and travel exhibition district and facilitate the friendly relationship and cooperation between media of the two parties.

The cities of Anqing, Chizhou and Xuancheng are major cities of the 47 cities and counties in the South Anhui Province International Culture and Travel Exhibition District, a national cultural tourism district approved in 2014.

Just a few days ago, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was concluded with success. Seven leaders from ASEAN attended the landmark Forum, which attested to the smooth progress of the Belt and Road Initiative. At the Forum, President Xi Jinping proposed to build the Belt and Road into a pathway to peace, prosperity, opening-up, innovation and civilization. He called for better utilization and conservation of historical and cultural heritage and joint efforts to create tourist products featuring Belt and Road Initiative.

ASEAN and China are good neighbors and partners and a key destination for Anhui’s opening-up efforts. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, ties between ASEAN and Anhui have been growing fast with more people-to-people exchanges and economic and trade cooperation, said Zheng mingwu, director of Anhui provincial government information office.

Friendly exchanges and mutual benefit have become the theme of the cooperation between ASEAN and Anhui and the interview trip is expected to further promote mutual understanding and cooperation, Zheng added.

Tourism cooperation has long been a bright spot of ASEAN-China relations. It is gratifying to see that in 2016 the number of bilateral visits between ASEAN countries and China topped 31.8 million with over 21.5 million Chinese visiting ASEAN and over 10.3 million ASEAN tourists visiting China, according to Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of China-ASEAN Center.

To enlist the participation and support of media is an effective way to market tourism resources. Often tourism cooperation and media coverage join hands with each other to raise awareness, promote mutual understanding and enhance friendship among the people of different countries, she added.

Tran Thi Thu Minh, the head of ASEAN media delegation and vice minister of Vietnam News Agency, believed that the interview event offers a rare opportunity to gain insight into history, culture, humanity, economic and social development of China and will facilitate friendly ties between ASEAN and Anhui, as well as exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

This event is sponsored by the Publicity Department of Anhui Provincial Committee and ASEAN-China Centre and organized by Anhui Provincial Government Information Office, Anhui TV, Asia Pacific Daily and ASEAN Finance with support from the Bureau of Commerce of Anhui Province, Foreign Affairs Office of Anhui Provincial Government and

Anhui Provincial Tourism Administration.