China and ASEAN cities exchange ideas on cultural and tourism cooperation

Global Mayors Dialogue·Nanning, with the theme of cultural and tourism cooperation and promoting common prosperity of cities, kicked off on Friday when mayors or mayor representatives from seven cities including Nanning and Chongzuo in China, Yangon in Myanmar, Surat Thani Province in Thailand, Mong Cai in Vietnam, Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and Siem Reap in Cambodia, discussed new paths for cultural and tourism cooperation together.

Guo Wei, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Nanning Committee and the Vice Mayor of Nanning, introduced the measures and achievements of Nanning in promoting the construction of the city as a national tourism hub and a regional international tourism center by using culture as the medium and tourism as the momentum. In the future, Nanning will further leverage its geographical and cultural advantages, deepen cooperation with ASEAN countries in the fields of culture and tourism, and jointly promote regional prosperity and development, creating a brighter future through hosting brand activities for cultural exchanges, optimizing services to enhance the convenience of inbound tourism, and enriching the supply of inbound tourism products.

Ho Quang Huy, chairman of the People's Committee of Mong Cai of Vietnam, said that Dongxing Port in Guangxi, China is only 100 meters away from Mong Cai Port in Vietnam. Regarding this transport advantage, China and Vietnam are working on expanding cross-border characteristic tourism cooperation, creating a tourism brand and route with regional characteristics and building culture and tourism into a new engine driving economic cooperation between the two sides.

Dato' Sri Dr. Haji Sabin bin Samitah, JP, mayor of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, said that Malaysia is endowed with rich tourism resources, and the local festivals, traditional customs, and folk arts are very distinctive. China and Malaysia are jointly conducting a application to include "Lion Dance" in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO to create new opportunities for both sides' tourism through intangible cultural heritage and mutual learning among civilizations.

Representatives from cities such as Chongzuo of China, Yangon of Myanmar, Surat Thani Province in Thailand, and Siem Reap in Cambodia proposed their plans and prospects for cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation between cities in China and ASEAN countries.

Qin Qiaozhen from China and her Vietnamese husband, as representatives of travel agencies from China and abroad, shared their story of developing cross-border tourism business and promoting tourism cooperation between China and Vietnam. Since 2008, Qin and her team have served over 150,000 Vietnamese tourists visiting China, with more than 30,000 person-times of tourists coming via or to Nanning in 2024.