Sixteen cities at the Yangtze River delta in east China, signed Saturday a declaration of cooperation in promoting tourism development in the region, in a bid to turn the area into a hot tourist attraction worldwide.
The signatories included tourist cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces as well as Shanghai.
The declaration highlighted the importance of increasing regional cooperation in the tourism industry after the SARS spread was brought under control, and proposed the establishment of regulations regarding tourism seminars and trade fairs among the cities.
In the declaration, the 16 cities also reached consensus on adopting a system to guarantee the safety and health of tourists to the region, and on building China's first tourism zone across several provinces.
Shanghai, along with Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, is home to 25 of the country's top sightseeing cities, 48 of the country's major scenic spots, and 20 percent of the country's tourism agencies.
(Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2003)
