Photo: 2021 China-ASEAN International Forum on Traditional Medicine and Health Tourism opens in Bama County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Oct. 13, 2021.
BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- 2021 China-ASEAN International Forum on Traditional Medicine and Health Tourism kicked off on Wednesday in Bama, a county inhabited by the ethnic Yao people and known for longevity, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Themed integrated development of traditional medicine and health tourism industries under COVID-19 prevention and control on a regular basis, the forum aims to help attendees exchange views on the current situation and development trend of the traditional medicine and health tourism industries between China and ASEAN countries under the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, and discuss prospects for cooperation between the two sides in the health tourism industry.
The forum is to further deepen China-ASEAN health tourism cooperation, promote the high-quality development of health tourism between China and ASEAN countries, and help build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, according to Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Zhang Xu.
Guangxi is willing to promote development of medical care and tourism services with ASEAN countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), upgrade platforms for exhibitions and sales of traditional medicine and health tourism products and services, and provide strong support for big health and tourism projects in terms of capital, land and other production factors, said Li Bin, vice chairman of the government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
In recent years, Guangxi has attached great importance to the development of traditional medicine and health tourism. It has identified a total of 26 traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) health tourism demonstration bases and gradually established a traditional medicine and health tourism industry system with the traditional medicine, leisure and elderly care, and health tourism industries as the core.
It is reported that the forum is held every two years, and it is the fourth time to hold such event this year.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region jointly hosted the forum, with about 250 attendees from China and the ASEAN countries participating in the forum online or offline. (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)