The International Tourism Industry Cooperation and Matchmaking Conference, as part of the 9th Shanxi tourism Development Conference, was held in Datong city, Shanxi province, on June 27.

Ambassadors to China, and representatives of overseas tourism organizations and cities in Shanxi attended the conference, introducing their respective tourism industries and discussing possibilities for cooperation. 

Liang Shujuan, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanxi Provincial Government, expressed hope that through this event, mutual learning and complementarity could be promoted, and new opportunities could be created for deep cooperation on tourism between Shanxi and other countries. 

According to Sergey Manasaryan, the Armenian Ambassador to China, noted that tourism is an important means of promoting cultural exchanges between different countries. He expressed his desire to see more active people-to-people exchanges between Armenia and China, and hoped that direct flights between the two countries will be established by the end of this year.

The Moldovan Ambassador to China Dumitru Braghis invited more Chinese people to go and explore Moldova.

Matt Cartwright, Head of Tourism Projects (China & North East Asia) at VisitBritain, emphasized that the United Kingdom has always been open and welcoming to Chinese tourists. He expressed his hope that in the future, travellers from Shanxi will also be able to enjoy direct flights to the UK.