On the evening of October 26, the launch ceremony of “Hello! China.” in Middle East and North Africa was Held in Dubai, UAE. The national tourism brand image publicity video “Hello! China.” was unveiled on the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa. Lu Yingchuan, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism of China, Li Xuhang, Consul General of China in Dubai, and Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Economy and Tourism Authority, attended and addressed the ceremony. More than 120 people from the UAE’s culture, tourism, media and other sectors attended the event.
At night, Burj Khalifa stood in the night sky under the shining light in Dubai. At 19:40, two red palace doors opened in the Burj Khalifa tower and the lovely pandas paraded between the Temple of Heaven, Mount Huangshan, the Great Wall, Guilin, Oriental Pearl and other famous tourist attractions in China, and finally appeared as “Hello! China.” tourism image logo, warmly inviting tourists around the world to visit China and showing China’s welcome.
Lu said in his speech that at the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, President Xi announced eight major steps China would take to support our joint pursuit of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and expressed China’s willing to join hands with other countries to further Belt and Road cooperation and exchanges between different civilizations. China and the UAE are natural partners in the Belt and Road Cooperation. Our cooperation in the field of tourism started early and has a good foundation, and there is huge potential in strengthening dialogue among civilizations. With the release of the new brand image of “Hello! China.”, China is willing to further upgrade inbound tourism services, optimize various measures, and welcome more friends from the Middle East and North Africa, including the UAE, to travel to China, appreciate the natural landscape, learn about history, forge friendship, and jointly promote people-to-people exchanges under the BRI.
Li Xuhang said that this year marked the 10th anniversary of building a global community with a shared future and the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by President Xi and the 40th anniversary of the friendship between China and UAE. Both China and the UAE have rich tourism resources and are popular tourist destinations for tourists from both sides. The launch and promotion of the “Hello! China.” brand will promote more personnel exchanges between China and Arab countries and make greater contributions to enhancing China-Arab friendship and people-to-people exchanges.
“China has always held a special place in our hearts,” Issam said. “The Chinese market is one of Dubai’s major international tourist markets, and the influx of Chinese tourists has enriched our cultural diversity and strengthened the bonds between us.” Dubai Economy and Tourism Authority was willing to further promote the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in the field of tourism, support the two sides in holding tourism promotion activities, and promote visits and exchanges. We welcomed more Chinese tourists would come to Dubai, and we also hoped that today’s “Hello! China.” launch ceremony can attract more tourists to travel to China.
The event was hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Chinese Embassy in the UAE and the Chinese Consulate General in Dubai, and organized by the UAE Chinese Cultural Center. The launch ceremony also included Chinese tourism promotion activities, sugar paintings, Beijing rabbits, kites, Suzhou embroidery, prints, dough sculptures and other Chinese intangible cultural heritage that the on-site guests can interact with.