国内英语新闻:Senior Chinese official stresses integration of tourism, culture

SANYA, Hainan, March 21 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese official said here Sunday more efforts should be made to further integrate tourism and culture so as to achieve greater development of the industries.

Liu Yunshan, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at the 2010 Boao International Tourism Forum in Sanya, a tourist resort in south China's Hainan Province.

Global tourism was experiencing drastic adjustment along with the world economy's profound changes, while connections between tourism and culture had been increasing, he said.

Integrated development of the two industries was an inevitable demand of the times when economic development came to a certain level, which offered huge potential for the tourism industry, said Liu.

It was important to stick to opening-up and cooperation in promoting the tourism and culture industries, Liu said.

"The Chinese government has made the decision to build Hainan into an international tourism island, which demands more efforts to further expand opening-up and explore integration of tourism and culture, making Hainan a key platform for economic cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries," Liu said.

The two-day forum, under the theme of "transformation of tourism and cultural industries in the aftermath of the global economic crisis," attracted delegates from more than 50 countries and regions, as well as executives of world tourism organizations such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the World Travel and Tourism Council.