LANZHOU - China's western Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces have teamed up to boost tourism around the Qinling Mountain Range, a major landmark dividing the country's north and south.

According to a statement signed among provincial tourism authorities on Monday, 18 cities of the three provinces will set up an eco-tourism ring to further tap local tourism resources, draw sightseers from around the world and give a major boost to the regional economy.

The group's first step will be to invite specialists from the global tourism industry to map out a plan for the development of a shared tourism market along the Qinling Mountain Range.

The projected common market will allow local travel services to operate interprovincial routes to make it easier for tourists to travel across the three provinces, said Zhang Shizhen, deputy chairman of the Gansu provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Meanwhile, tourism authorities in the three provinces will work together to hear tourists' complaints and respond to natural disasters, epidemic outbreaks and other emergencies that could affect tourists, said Zhang.

"The three neighboring provinces enjoy similar geological situations and cultural background," said Zhang, one of the most active advocates of the common tourism market plan. "The joint program will enable them to share tourism resources and boost regional economic development."

The plan hopes to integrate some jewels of western China tourism, such as the giant pandas of Sichuan, the Terracotta Army of Shaanxi and the Buddhist frescoes in the caves of Gansu.

Other highlights of the projected eco-tourism ring will include national geological parks in the Qinling Mountains, the remains of the prehistoric Sanxingdui civilization which have puzzled historians since being discovered in 1929, the ancient irrigation system of Dujiangyan and other renowned cultural and historical sites.