The 8th Roundtable Conference of Cities along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Meeting of Culture and Tourism Bureau Directors are held in Xi'an on Sept 23. [Photo/Xi'an Daily]

The 8th Roundtable Conference of Cities along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Meeting of Culture and Tourism Bureau Directors took place in Xi'an on Sept 23 as an important part of the 2023 Euro-Asia Economic Forum.

The conference was themed on "promoting urban innovative development through tourism cooperation", and participants engaged in in-depth discussions to provide suggestions and reach a broad consensus on the development of the global tourism industry.

During the conference, Xi'an and Andong in South Korea signed an agreement on cultural and tourism cooperation. Since the establishment of sister city relations on Nov 30, 2020, the two cities have had close interactions in the fields of culture, tourism, and sports.

The signing of the agreement will promote joint efforts and cooperation in the cultural and tourism fields, deepening mutual understanding between the people of the two cities.

Three new member cities of the UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee – Samarinda in Indonesia, Qingdao and Yulin in China – submitted letters of intent to enter the committee to Xi'an.

The UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee was officially established in Xi'an in October 2021. It is a non-profit international organization under the framework of the UCLG ASPAC. So far, a total of 43 cities have joined the committee.

The International Ancient City Walls (Fortresses) Alliance under the UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee was also launched to strengthen cooperation among the world's ancient city walls.

The Xi'an City Wall management committee reached an agreement of intent to cooperate with the Veneto Region Ancient City Wall Alliance in Italy and the City Wall Management Authority of York city in the United Kingdom.