Tourism chairman calls for unity

On behalf of China National Tourism Administration and the Chinese tourism industry, I would like to take the opportunity at the opening of the APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting to extend a warm welcome to guests and friends from all economies of the APEC and the World Tourism Organization and other international organizations, and express my appreciation to the involved parties of Macao special administrative region for their preparation work.

Nowadays tourism is an important part in people's daily life and a strategic industry in the national economy that has achieved remarkable results thanks to great attention and direct leadership from the central government.

The number of overseas tourists visiting China increased 76 times during the past three decades since the reforms and open-up policy. The number of overnight foreign visitors to China hit 55.69 million last year. Nearly 100 million, or exactly 98.19 million, Chinese tourists traveled abroad last year, while domestic tourist attractions drew 3.26 billion Chinese visitors.