The 5th China-Japan-Korea Ministerial Conference on Tourism Opening Ceremony & Large-scale Theatrical Performance Held in Hangzhou

On the evening of August 21, the 5th China-Japan-Korea Ministerial Conference on Tourism Opening Ceremony & Large-scale Theatrical Performance was held in Hangzhou. Shao Qiwei, Chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), Minister Seiji Maehara of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Yu In-Chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of South Korea , and Lv Zushan, Governor of Zhejiang Province attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Huang Kunming, Member of the Standing Committee of Zhejiang Provincial Committee of CPC & Hangzhou Municipal Committee Secretary and Wang Jianman, Deputy Governor of Zhejiang Province were present at the opening ceremony, which was presided over by Zhu Shanzhong, Vice Chairman of CNTA. About 400 governmental and industrial representatives from the hosting country (China), Japan and South Korea attended the ceremony.

The opening ceremony was brief yet novel. 6 distinguished guests, namely, Shao Qiwei, Seiji Maehara, Yu In-Chon, Lv Zushan, Huang Kunming and Wang Jianman poured water into a teacup together, indicating “making a pot of tea together”, and symbolizing the close friendship among the three neighboring countries separated only by a narrow strip of water.
On behalf of China National Tourism Administration, Chairman Shao Qiwei expressed warm welcome to the participants and guests at the ceremony. He said that China, Japan and South Korea are close neighbors, and enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges among their people. Since China-Japan-Korea cooperation started in 1999, all-round cooperation among the three countries has been carried forward steadily. Under the overall cooperation framework, tourism cooperation mechanism is increasingly perfected.

After the ceremony, tourism ministers of China, Japan and South Korea and the participants appreciated the Fireworks Show on the West Lake and “Impressions of the West Lake”, a landmark cultural program and large-scale live-action song and dance. Marvelous fireworks highlighted the dreamlike West Lake, as if in a traditional Chinese ink and wash painting, evoking rounds of warm applauses from the audiences.