Students from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the United States visit the Forbidden City in Beijing on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily) President Xi Jinping has reached out to all visitors from the United States with a welcoming gesture in a message that he sent to the 14th China-U.S.
Tourism Leadership Summit, which opened on Wednesday in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province. "We cordially welcome U.S.
tourists to travel to China to meet Chinese friends, experience Chinese culture, tour scenic mountains and rivers, and get a firsthand look at the real China," he wrote. U.S.
President Joe Biden also sent a congratulatory message to the event. Industry observers have voiced great hopes that both nations will further encourage two-way visits, as the most recent numbers on border entries and direct flights continue to increase, compared with those of last year, yet they are still lower than the highs achieved before the COVID-19 outbreak. In his message, Xi said that "tourism is an important bridge for the people of China and the U.
S. to engage in exchanges and get to better know and bond with each other". He expressed his hope that people from all walks of life in the two countries will take this summit as an opportunity for in-depth exchanges, consensus building and vigorous actions.
The goal is to facilitate people-to-people exchanges through tourism cooperation, to perpetuate China-U.S. friendship through cultural exchanges, and to help translate the San.