China, with long history, rich culture and beautiful scenery, welcomes tourists from all over the world, President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory letter to an international tourism meeting on Wednesday.
"Tourism is an important channel for different countries and cultures to communicate with each other, an effective way of developing a country's economy and a key industry to improve people's lives," he said in the letter to the 22nd General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
The biennial officially kicked off on Wednesday in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. Activities started on Monday and the event runs through Saturday.
More than 1,000 representatives from 130 countries and regions are attending the meeting to discuss using sustainable tourism as a development tool and reinforcing Belt and Road tourism cooperation.
