EDITOR'S NOTE: On May 29 2021, the main activity of the third International Mountain Tourism Day—the World Heritage Famous Mountain (Jinfo Mountain) Summit kicked off in Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality, China successfully. Themed with “World Heritage Protection and Green Development of Mountain Tourism”, the Summit got strong support from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF), the Internationale Organisation Für Volkskunst (IOV) and the China Association of National Parks and Scenic Sites. The theme forum presented wonderful contents with high-level opinions, frontier observations and dialogues on trends. The speeches will be released in succession to share with industry colleagues.
Ding Zhongping, Secretary of the CPC Chongqing Nanchuan District Committee delivered an address at Summit's Opening Ceremony:
Distinguished Vice Chairman Shao Qiwei, Secretary General He Yafei, Chairman Zhang Xinsheng, Deputy Director Shen Jinqiang, Deputy Mayor Cai Yunge, dear officials, guests, ladies and gentlemen:
Good morning!
Today is the anniversary of men’s first time reaching the peak of Mount Everest. On this special day, we gather together in Jinfo Mountain, Nanchuan District, to hold the International Mountain Tourism Day 2021 World Heritage Mountain (Jinfo Mountain) Summit. Choosing the first stop in Nanchuan District shows how much IMTA, Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development, Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government, and Chongqing Municipal Administration of Sports trust us, and how much relevant international organizations, embassies and consulates in China, partner districts and counties in or out of Chongqing city, guilds and enterprises support us. For that, on behalf of the Nanchuan District Committee, District People’s Congress, District People’s Government, District People’s Political Consultative Conference, as well as 700,000 local residents, I hereby welcome all the government officials, guests, and friends at home and abroad to take time out of your busy schedule and come here. I sincerely thank you for your care and support to the development of Nanchuan District.
China is a country of mountains, and Chongqing is famous worldwide as the “Mountain City.” Nanchuan District, located in the downtown area of Chongqing Municipality, is one of the four amalgamation pilot areas, thus enjoying three edges—geographical advantage, sound ecological environment, and profuse cultural and tourism resources. In Nanchuan District, Jinfo Mountain takes up 1,300 square kilometers of area, half of the entire District, typical of karst landform. It enjoys four distinctive seasons and magnificent views, houses over 8,000 animal species as well as one sixth of China’s seed plants. It is thus renowned as the “world’s top one karst table mountain,” “Earth’s biological gene pool,” “traditional Chinese medicine pool,” and “snow field in South China.” In 2014, Jinfo Mountain was listed as a world heritage due to its extraordinary natural phenomena and being as an excellent example of the Earth’s evolution history.
Chinese people always value harmony between man and nature, and follow nature’s course. In recent years, we have been consolidating the conviction of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” sticking to the principle of putting ecology and green development at first, and exploring the co-existence and co-prosperity between world famous mountain protection and mountain tourism development.
To do that, first, we are dedicated to preserving “lucid waters and lush mountains.” To be more specific, we implemented the strictest policies of ecological environment protection, designated 456 square kilometers of “ecological red line area,” carried out peak carbon dioxide emission and carbon neutral strategies by reducing carbon dioxide emission by over 90,000 tons within three years. The forest coverage of Jinfo Mountain reaches 95 percent, and its biodiversity and karst landform are well preserved. Nanchuan’s forest coverage is 55.2 percent. In the urban area, people can enjoy up to 354 days of good air quality every year. And the Daxi River is renowned as one of Chongqing’s top ten beautiful rivers and lakes. All these make Chongqing one of China’s most ecologically competitive cities.
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Second, we are devoted to giving full play to our “invaluable assets.” We transform our advantageous mountain resources into development edges, renovate and innovate operation and management mechanisms, in a bid to build a diversified product line for mountain tourism. What’s more, we tap into Jinfo Mountain’s scarcity value, extend its value chain and supply chain, enhance its significance as a natural heritage, and perfect the product line of “Jinfo Mountain + spring, summer, autumn and winter.” To be more specific, we have launched four-season experience products like “appreciating flowers in spring, avoiding heat in summer, enjoying falling leaves in autumn, and playing with snow in winter,” released outdoor sports projects like mountaineering, skiing, cross-country tours, rafting, and Via Ferrata, worked with Tencent on the All-for-one smart tourism 2.0 project, and created “five excellent cultural and creative products of Jinfo Mountain.” As a result, we have formed up a development pattern that integrates landscapes, urban and rural areas, supported by Shanwangping, Shenlong Gorge, and Lixiang Lake, and based on Jinfo Mountain, East Road, and Daguan tourist service center, so as to expand sightseeing tours to wellness tours, experience tours, and in-depth tours. During January to April this year, the number of visitors had a year-on-year growth of 160 percent. We have also built an industrial park themed on traditional Chinese medicine that covers an area of five square kilometers, introduced over 40 pharmaceutical enterprises like Shanghai Pharma and CR Sanjiu, constructed a full industry chain that covers planting, processing, marketing, medicine, wellness, and research, given full play to the three edges—profuse oxygen in air, profuse selenium in soil, and profuse strontium in water, developed four business patterns—forest wellness, cultural tourism wellness, sports wellness, and traditional Chinese medicine wellness, and created eight wellness tourism complexes.
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We are also aimed at telling the story of Nanchuan. While prioritizing tourism as a major part of opening-up strategy, Nanchuan proactively participated in Chongqing’s large cultural tourism promotion campaign “sharing cultures and views.” Nanchuan was also rated by CCTV’s Charming Chinatown as one of “ten charming cities in China,” and formed up “Chongqing-Sichuan world heritage alliance” with Dujiangyan, Mount Emei, and Xiannv Mountain. Moreover, we extend promotions to Australia, New Zealand, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, expand the customer market along the “Belt and Road” and New Land and Marine Routes for Western Regions, and conduct international tourism cooperation projects with countries like Austria, Singapore, and Malaysia.
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In the end, we also commit ourselves to “enriching people through mountain resources.” For that, we alleviate poverty through ecology by developing modern high-efficiency mountain agriculture. Many special vegetations, including traditional Chinese medicinal materials, ancient tree tea, square bamboo shoots, Nanchuan rice, and blue berries, reap over three billion yuan of annual output, making Nanchuan a national pioneering zone for integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas. Additionally, we strive to alleviate poverty through tourism by facilitating rural tourism. During January to April this year, we welcomed 6.54 million visitors of rural tourism, a year-on-year growth of 150 percent. Per capita net income of impoverished households increased by 38 percent compared with previous years. In conclusion, we made a huge success in completing the poverty alleviation task.
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“Today, mankind has become a close-knit community of shared future,” said President Xi. Since the founding in 2017, IMTA has been yielding a positive influence on promoting the preservation and exploitation of mountain tourism resources, and facilitating the sustainable development of mountain and ecological tourism, thus gaining more international influence. At this summit, renowned experts, scholars, entrepreneurs, and guild representatives at home and abroad are gathered together, to have a forum themed on the “World Heritage Protection and Green Development of Mountain Tourism,” conduct International Seminar on Mountain and Hot Spring Wellness Tourism, China Self-Driving Tourism Industry Round Table, and many other discussions and keynote speeches, share forward-looking insights, and construct a platform for exchange, conversation, and cooperation. Earth is home of mankind, so Jinfo Mountain is a treasure shared by all. We wish to, via this summit, join hands with everyone in making more achievements in and contributions to protecting mountain tourism and promoting sustainable development.
First, we must shoulder the historical mission of protecting mountain resources together. Mountain resources are a treasure left by nature for mankind hundreds of millions of years ago. The mountain ecological system is complicated and fragile, so it must be well exploited after being preserved. So, as this summit, we hope more experts, scholars, tourism practitioners, and the public can join us in sticking to the concept of “community of shared future for mankind,” and making protecting mountain tourism a widely accepted awareness of more people, to jointly safeguard mother Earth.
Second, we must jointly build a new pattern of opening-up and cooperation in a world with COVID-19. Now, the world still faces severe COVID-19 outbreak, but people are desperate for international exchanges and cooperation. Nanchuan District is one of the few counties and districts with “zero confirmed case” of COVID-19, deserving the honor of a paradise. At present, we grasp new development directions, implement new development concepts, introduce new development patterns, strive for specialization and amalgamation, and speed up the construction of a famous tourist city with beautiful mountains and rivers, an industrial agglomeration of massive health, an advanced manufacturing base, a high-quality agglomeration of consumer goods industry, a pilot area of landscape-city-countryside integrated development, and a backyard garden of the downtown area. Via this summit, we hope to receive opinions and advice from all over the world, show the image of Nanchuan District to everyone, and seek in-depth exchanges and cooperation in culture, tourism, urbanization, and finance.
Third, we must seek how to realize the value of mountain resources together. In the post-COVID world, as people’s health awareness gets enhanced, mountain tourism will become a major choice for the public to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We hope, based on the IMTA platform and this summit, everyone can join us in exploring methods to circulate the resources, funds, and information of international mountain tourism, reaching new consensus and reaping new fruits in the new development direction of mountain tourism and outdoor sport, new business patterns of mountain tourism integrating with multiple industries, and innovation in mountain tourism business types and rural revitalization. In doing so, we aim to make Nanchuan an example of green development for mountain tourism, and help build Chongqing into a world-renowned tourist destination.
In everyone’s heart erects a mountain. After this summit, we hope to publicize the brands of “Greener Jinfo Greater Nanchuan” and “A Tour in Chongqing, A Gain in Vision,” make Jinfo Mountain the pursuit and purpose of more people. We welcome people from all over the world to come to Nanchuan, appreciate world heritages, enjoy magnificent views, and experience wellness tours. And we sincerely invite people from all walks of life to invest in Nanchuan, to create a better future for the green development of mountain tourism.
Last, I wish this summit a complete success, and wish IMTA a promising future. May you all have a memorable journey in Nanchuan.
