The 15th session of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) General Assembly opened in Beijing Sunday.

Tourism ministers from more than 100 countries and nearly 1,000delegates from around the world are attending the meeting.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at the opening ceremony that since the middle of last century, modern tourism had been on the rise around the world.

The number of tourists had kept growing, the scale of tourist industry had continued to expand and the position of tourism in the economy had improved markedly.

Wen said tourism had become an important channel for cultural exchange, enhancing friendship and expanding communications among the people of all countries in the world. Tourism had an increasingly profound influence on life and social progress, he said.

Noting that ancient Chinese philosophers had put forward the idea of tourism, Wen said the Chinese Government placed great importance on the industry. China's tourism sector had grown rapidly and become a rising industry that showed great vigor and potential, he said.

China ranked among top destinations in the world in terms of the number of visitors and the country's foreign exchange income from tourism. The number of Chinese tourists going abroad was growing rapidly, he said.

He said that despite the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in spring, China had adopted prompt and effective measures to help the severely affected industry to recover and expand rapidly.

Wen said China had unique and rich tourist resources such as beautiful natural scenery and a great historical and cultural heritage. China had 56 ethnic groups and 29 global cultural and natural heritage sites and the landscape of urban and rural areas was changing rapidly along with the country's reform, opening and modernization drive, he said. All these factors had created favorable conditions for the development of tourism, he said.

Wen said the first two decades of the 21st century would be crucial to the development of tourism in China, as the country builds a well-off society and accelerates modernization. China would develop tourism into a major industry, protect and develop tourist resources and strive to realize the sustainable development of tourism, the premier said.

He said the Chinese Government welcomed friends from all countries as tourists, and will do its utmost to guarantee the health and security of all tourists.

The Chinese Government would encourage more Chinese to travel abroad. China wanted wide-ranging cooperation with all countries to develop global tourism, Wen said.

Wen also expressed his appreciation to the World Tourism Organization for its efforts to promote the development and prosperity of global tourism over the years. He congratulated the WTO on becoming a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Vice-Premier Wu Yi also attended the opening ceremony.

Before the opening ceremony, Wen met with WTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli and UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette, who are in China to attend the WTO session.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2003)