On December 5th, 2019, the China-Japan Tourism Forum was held in Japan. More than 300 guests, including Li Jinzao, vice-minister of the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Kotaro Nagasaki, Japanese prefectural governor of Yamanashi, Hiroshi Tabataand, commissioner of Japan Tourism Agency and representatives from tourism associations, study travel agencies, tourism associations of education, tourism institutes and cultural and tourism enterprises, were present.
Li Jinzao expressed in his remarks that the first meeting of the China-Japan high-level consultation mechanism on people-to-people exchanges was successfully held before with eight consensuses in people-to-people exchanges. To this end, it is of great significance to discuss the proposal of China-Japan tourism cooperation by virtue of the China-Japan Tourism Forum. He reviewed the history of tourism sector and spoke highly of the role of tourism exchanges and cooperation between China and Japan on China-Japan relations. Besides, he also said that the exchanges in such fields as at local levels, teenager as well as culture and sports have represented the “three bridges” of two-way tourism exchange. The cultural and tourism authorities of two countries shall work jointly to implement the consensuses, advance the plan to promote tourism in Asia through convenient tourism policies and bolster the integrated development of culture and tourism and coordinated innovation. It is expected to increase people’s sense of achievement and happiness in cultural and tourism interactions.
Toshihiro said that the Japanese side attaches great importance to tourism exchanges and cooperation between Japan and China, and is willing to expand mutual visits, boost tourism promotion, reinforce teenager exchanges of two sides, deepen mutual understanding of two peoples, enhance friendship with China and reach new highlights of Japan-China friendship through the the China-Japan high-level consultation mechanism.
The forum has been seen as the pragmatic measures to implement the consensuses of two leaders on pushing forward people-to-people exchanges, as well as concrete steps of eight results to “enlarge mutual visits, realize the goal of 15 million tourists and forge China-Japan Tourism Forum”. During the forum, a series of seminars on tourism sector and exchanges at local levels were also organized.