On 7 September 2017, China (Guangdong)-ASEAN Tourism Promotion Conference was held in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The Conference was hosted by the Provincial Tourism Administration of Guangdong and organized by Guangzhou Lingnan International Enterprise Group Co., Ltd. ASEAN–China Centre (ACC), together with ASEAN Committee in Beijing and Consular Corps of ASEAN in Guangzhou supported the event.

Mr. Man Hongwei, Director General of the Policy and Legal Affairs Department of China National Tourism Administration, Ms. Zeng Yingru, Director General of Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration, and H.E. Soegeng Rahardjo, Chairman of ASEAN Committee in Beijing and Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to China, Mr. Anthony Veke, Premier of Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, and representatives from the Consulates-General of the ASEAN countries in Guangzhou, and Ms. Huang Ying, Director of General Affairs and Coordination Division of ASEAN-China Centre, Mr. Zhang Zhujun, General Manager of Guangzhou Lingnan International Enterprise Group Co., Ltd as well as representatives from the tourism administrations, tourism industries, and media from ASEAN countries and China attended the Conference. The total participants amounted to 200.

In her speech, Ms. Zeng Yingru stated that in 2016, the number of two-way visits between Guangdong and ASEAN exceeded 6.2 million, of which more than 4.4 million visits were Guangdong residents and more than 1.8 million were ASEAN tourists. 2017 is the Year of ASEAN-China Tourism Cooperation, which brings new opportunities and new platform for Guangdong and ASEAN tourism cooperation. The promotion conference aimed to further deepen the tourism cooperation with ASEAN, enhance the quality and safety of tourism, and jointly forge regional boutique tourism destinations.

In his address, Mr. Man Hongwei mentioned that this conference was an important step to implement the consensus which had been reached at the China-ASEAN Summit in September 2016 and the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held this year. He emphasized that China is willing to cooperate with ASEAN in many aspects of tourism and make joint efforts to facilitate tourist visits, promote tourist destinations, increase mutual investment in tourism, improve the mechanism of dealing with tourism emergencies, establish more platforms for tourism cooperation, and enhance the bilateral cooperation to higher level, larger scale and wider scope.

H.E. Mr. Soegeng stated that the number of Chinese tourists visiting ASEAN had been increasing in recent years, which had an active influence on ASEAN countries, including Indonesia. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN. In retrospect, mutual understanding and trust are essential to boost cooperation in ASEAN’s history of development. The people-to-people exchanges including tourism cooperation will further strengthen the mutual trust and confidence.

Ms. Huang Ying delivered her speech on behalf of ASEAN-China Centre. She made a brief introduction to ASEAN-China relations and spoke highly of the tourism cooperation between ASEAN and Guangdong Province of China. She stated that, with the steady progress of jointly building the Belt and Road, especially with the further development of connectivity, ASEAN-China tourism cooperation will face broader space of development and play a greater role in fostering the new pillar of people-to-people exchanges between China and ASEAN.

Mr. Li Zhongguang, Vice President of China Tourism Academy, has delivered a keynote speech entitled “The Opportunities and Challenges Faced by the Tourism Market of Guangdong (China) and ASEAN”.

The representatives from the tourism administrations and enterprises have positive and enthusiastic discussions on how to optimize the mechanism for the cooperation in tourism safety and promote tourism cooperation and how to broaden the tourist market. During the conference, 2017 Guangdong’s Top Routes among ASEAN Tourists was publicized, and the China (Guangdong)-ASEAN Quality Declaration was issued by the tourism enterprises. As part of this event, China (Guangdong)-ASEAN Tourism Night was held later that day.