The China-Denmark Tourism Year 2017 kicked off with a launch ceremony in Beijing on Friday, marking the start of a year-long program featuring a series of cultural exchanges and events involving the travel industries in both countries.
Li Jinzao, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, and Brian Mikkelsen, the Danish minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, jointly opened the tourism year by signing a Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Cooperation during the event.
The two also read congratulatory letters respectively from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen as well as delivered keynote speeches concerning tourism development in the two countries.
In his speech, Li pointed out that the number of Chinese and Danish tourists traveling to both countries surpassed 210,000 in 2016. He added that as the first tourism year China has established with a north European country, the China-Denmark Tourism Year is sure to provide a new platform for exchanges and business cooperation between the two countries.
"Tourism will not only remain popular between our two peoples, but also see cooperation potential in various fields where Denmark has peerless expertise and know-how in the world, such as fashion and design, green energy, food and agriculture, and health," Mikkelsen said during his speech at the ceremony.
In addition to the Memorandum of Understanding, several tourism agreements were also signed, including between China's Baidu Maps and the Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing.
