Local culture promoted to neighbors

The Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has helped publicize Chinese culture to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, attracted tourists to Guangxi and promoted cultural cooperation between China and ASEAN in recent years.

The region in South China has improved its cultural and tourism communication mechanism with foreign regions. A cultural and tourism conference among Guangxi and its four bordering provinces in Vietnam was held for the first time in Nanning, capital of Guangxi, in 2019.

Representatives from the regions signed a cooperation memorandum on aspects including establishing a daily contact mechanism, developing cross-border tourism cooperation areas and training cultural and tourism professionals.

Guangxi also implemented a Sino-Vietnamese provincial-level coordination and meeting mechanism regularly. The two countries have held conferences discussing project construction, tourist management, ticket sales and preferential policies for the cross-border tourism cooperation area since 2017. The area plans to start trial operation after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Guangxi government set up a China cultural center with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Hanoi in 2017. The center has organized research, communication and publicity events with local institutions. It has used overseas social media platforms to promote Chinese cultural and travel resources during the pandemic.

Guangxi has held several events at the China-ASEAN Expo since 2016. Among them are six sessions of the China-ASEAN Cultural Forum, five sessions of the China-ASEAN Expo Tourism Exhibition and two sessions of the CAEXPO Cultural Exhibition.

The moves have played a role in promoting cultural and tourism communication between Guangxi and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, especially ASEAN members, Guangxi authorities said.

The Guangxi culture and tourism department has held activities, including the China tourism and culture week, performances, exhibitions, lectures and artistic training with overseas Chinese cultural centers in recent years.

It also helped cities in Guangxi to organize cultural communication events with ASEAN members. It encouraged regions including Nanning, capital of the autonomous region, to hold multinational Spring Festival galas and organized performance companies to put on shows in ASEAN countries.

The department also promoted communication and cooperation in cultural heritage between Guangxi and ASEAN members, organizing Guangxi's museums, archaeological institutes and cultural heritage research organizations to participate in related events in ASEAN countries.

Guangxi explored its cultural and tourism resources and created artworks with the theme of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. It produced related symphonies, musical dramas and historical dance dramas during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). They were performed in communication activities with countries involved in the BRI, including ASEAN members.

One of Guangxi's cities helped train cultural and traveling professionals from the four bordering provinces of Vietnam. Guilin Tourism University admitted students from the provinces and offered them scholarships throughout 2019-21, said Wang Zixi, director of the Guilin culture and tourism bureau.

Publicity and promotional work is another priority of Guangxi's culture and tourism authorities. They have organized local companies to hold promotional conferences in countries such as Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and have taken part in influentially international tourism exhibitions.

The companies promoted Guangxi's sightseeing services and traveling routes, offered intangible cultural heritage displays and performances and participated in forums to demonstrate and publicize the region's unique cultural and tourism appeal.

The authorities invited ASEAN travel agencies, artists and media representatives to visit Guangxi and learn about its tourism resources.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn