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.

The industry has developed quickly in recent years.

In 2009 China became the world's third most popular tourist destination. May 19 was identified as China Tourism Day in 2011. China became the world's top tourism consuming nation in 2012.

In 2013 the nation's first tourism law came into effect, followed by a package of plans to regulate the reforms and development of the industry issued by the State Council in August this year. This gave a series of concepts, policies, measures and requirements from a strategic and overall perspective.

According to the requirements of the central government, China's tourism has established the concept of scientific development. With a tourist-oriented strategy, we will achieve sustainable growth by letting the market play a dominant role in deploying resources in tourism.

We are boosting the industry by carrying out reforms and opening-up strategies. We have established open standards for market entry and operation, and expanded the inbound tourism market to promote regional integration of tourism.

To expand tourism expenditure, we have developed diverse tourism models, including leisure and resort tours, countryside tours, cultural tours, academic travel and tours for elderly people.

We have optimized the business environment for the industry. On one hand, we have improved service facilities including highways, high-speed railroads and airports. On the other hand, we have introduced the credibility system and made regulations for ticket prices to ensure safety.

Last but not least, the government has improved its policies to guarantee workers' receive paid vacation, to increase its support to financing and land-related policies and optimize tourism-related infrastructure.

Dear friends, tourism is an open industry and involves communication across cultures, nations and regions.

As a member in the Asia-Pacific region, China cannot develop its tourism without the support of the environment of this family. Among China's 18 major tourist sources, 12 are APEC member economies, which contributed 70 percent of the overseas tourists to China in 2013.