China, US pledge to promote tourism

Thanks to the Tourism Year, the number of Chinese tourists traveling to the United States increased by 14.7 percent in the first three quarters of this year from a year earlier, while the number of American tourists traveling to China went up by 7.3 percent during the same period.[Photo/Xinhua]

Citing US official statistics, Wang said that about 2.59 million Chinese traveled to the United States last year and spent 30.1 billion US dollars in total while in the country.

"The number of Chinese tourists going to the United States this year is expected to surpass 3 million, and they'll create 45,000 direct jobs and 230,000 indirect jobs for the United Sates," he noted.

As both China and the United States are countries with large tourism resources and markets, Wang said China stands ready to work with the United States to simplify visa policies and provide more convenient, comfortable and secure services for tourists.

The two sides will also lower the entry threshold for investment in the tourism industry, and encourage companies from both countries to expand investment cooperation, the Chinese vice premier said.

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, who made her first trip to China in 1984, said at the closing ceremony that tourism between the two countries has seen significant progress over the past decade, yet there's still much room to grow.

"The United States only captures 2 percent of the outbound Chinese market despite strong demand from Chinese visitors to our shores," she said.

The US government is taking advantage of the China-U.S. Tourism Year and improving tourism operations to draw more Chinese visitors to the country, she said.

As China is developing its own national park system, it's working with the US National Park Service to learn its best practices, models and lessons, Pritzker said.

"As we close the Tourism Year and look to the future, I want to assure all of you that we will continue to promote more traveling and tourism between our two nations," she said.