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Summary China and Russia started tourism year to foster exchanges and friendship between the two countries.
China and Russia started the Year of Russian Tourism, a move designated to foster exchanges and friendship between the two countries and their peoples.Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and his Russian counterpart Vladislav Surkov attended the opening ceremony of the theme year at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.Wang said China and Russia have complementary tourism markets and rich tourism resources, laying a sound foundation for cooperation in the field.Sino-Russian tourism cooperation now has unprecedented opportunities. The tourism year initiatives will expand consumption, help boost our economies and benefit both peoples, Wang said.Surkov said Russia attaches great importance to developing relations with China and is willing to further promote bilateral cooperation in all fields.He said he fully agrees to Wangs proposal on tourism cooperation and welcomes more Chinese tourists to Russia.Russia also welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in tourism and infrastructure, and at the same time hopes to promote the two countries high-tech cooperation through tourism, he said.In a congratulatory message to the ceremony, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao hailed the traditional friendship and current bilateral ties, which, as he described, has reached an unprecedented new level.Wen urged the two countries, both rich in tourism resources, to expand cooperation and make the theme year a success to showcase Russias natural landscape, history, culture, arts and its current social momentum.In 2011, more than 800,000 Chinese tourists took Russia as the first stop of their overseas trip, and the number of Russian tourists to China exceeded 2.5 million, Wen said.However, these numbers do not conform to the level of our bilateral friendship, cooperation and strategic ties, Wen said.In his own message to the ceremony, Russian Prime Minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin said the expansion of a social foundation for strengthening bilateral ties is of great importance.Putin recalled exchanges and events organized by the two countries in recent years, saying he believes the Year of Russian Tourism will provide more chances for Chinese people to better understand Russia.As agreed by the two heads of state, China and Russia will hold Tourism Year of Russia in China in 2012 and the Year of Chinese Tourism in Russia in 2013.
