China to develop tourism

Prime Minister Li Peng told the conference China would speed up and vigorously develop tourism - and would co-operate with organisations abroad to achieve its aim.

Last year, 51 million overseas people visited China and there were 640 million domestic tourists, Mr Li said to more than 1,000 delegates at the opening ceremony.

He said China intended to improve transportation and infrastructure, promote more diverse tourism products and expand remote areas with rich tourism resources.