The China Tourism Investment Fair opened Tuesday in Ningbo, a port city of Zhejiang Province, attracting more than 10,000 Chinese and foreign participants.

The fair, jointly sponsored by the China National Tourism Administration and the Ningbo municipal government, will provide more than 1,000 booths that present tourism investment promotion programs, and is expected to attract an investment of 100 billion yuan (US$12.3 billion), according to the organizing committee.

At the first signing ceremony, about 18 agreements were inked involving a total investment of 8.5 billion yuan, (US$1.06 billion), said the organizing committee.

Gu Chaoxi, deputy director of the China National Tourism Administration, said at the opening ceremony that more money will be injected in the development of China's abundant tourism resources to make the country more attractive to tourists.

The three-day fair is another major event of the tourism industry following the China International Tourism Fair and the China Domestic Tourism Fair.

Forums on tourism investment and sustainable development of China's tourism industry, as well as tourism investment across the Taiwan Straits, will be held during the event.

A tourism investors' club will also be launched, according to the organizing committee.

Overseas delegations present at the fair are from a dozen countries and regions, including Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2005)