Saudi Ambassador: China’s decision to list Saudi Arabia as a destination for group travel is highly appreciated

Editor’s note

  On the afternoon of September 4, the 2023 CIFTIS Belt and Road Culture and Tourism Forum for International Cooperation, co-organized by the Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (BPAFFC), Shijingshan District People’s Government and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, took place at the Shougang Park. The Saudi Ambassador and the Thai Ambassador to China were invited to deliver video speeches on Sino-foreign culture and tourism cooperation. The event was covered on the Beijing Daily app.

Discussions were held under the theme “Deepen cooperation in culture and tourism, promote mutual learning among civilizations,” with the aim to improve international cooperation mechanisms, promote cross-border cooperation in culture and tourism, and give play to the driving role of culture and tourism industries.

In his video speech, His Excellency Abdulrahman Ahmad Al-Harbi, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to China, said that Saudi Arabia and China attach great importance to aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with the Saudi Vision 2030. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has put forward a number of cultural initiatives and appreciates China’s decision to list Saudi Arabia as a destination country for outbound tourist groups. The two countries should strengthen tourism cooperation, organize relevant promotion activities, tap into their rich tourism resources, and take more joint actions to promote the development of the tourism industry.

In the keynote speech session, speakers from China, Russia, New Zealand, and other countries, shared their views on the forum theme. They discussed the important role that the integrated development of urban culture and tourism plays in promoting international exchanges and cooperation and people-to-people communication, and expressed the hope of strengthening cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism.

At the achievements release session, the Shijingshan District Government and the Cycling and Fencing Administration Center of the General Administration of Sport of China jointly launched the 2023 Belt and Road Diplomats Cycling Invitation Tournament. Shijingshan District Bureau of Culture and Tourism signed the framework agreement of cooperation with AoYou.com and China Tourism Group.

 The Belt and Road Culture and Tourism Exhibition was also unveiled at the forum site. The online exhibition was officially launched on the official website of the CIFTIS on September 2. Offline, amazing pictures about culture and tourism taken in 43 cities of 31 countries were selected and displayed at the forum site.