Guangdong firm joins UN in sustainable development project

Chimelong Group, a leisure tourism conglomerate, signed an agreement with the United Nations World Tourism Organization to invest in a project aiming for sustainable development of the industry along with the conservation of wildlife.

The UNWTO-Chimelong Advocacy Program was announced at the first World Conference on Tourism for Development held in Beijing last week.

According to the agreement, Chimelong will invest $1 million in the project, with both sides vowing to build a human resources pool for the tourism industry and improve facilities related to wildlife protection.

Chimelong, based in Guangdong province, owns and operates theme parks, luxury hotels, high-end restaurants and leisure entertainment businesses. It has already developed a number of facilities for wildlife protection, including a base for rare animal and plant sources, a breeding center for giant pandas and another for South China tigers in Qingyuan, in northern Guangdong.

The world's first koala twins were born at Chimelong's Guangzhou safari park in 2007, and the world's only live giant panda triplet were born at the park in 2014.