The opening ceremony for the Seminar on the Integrated Development of Culture and Tourism for Arab Countries, organized by the Ministry of Commerce and hosted by MOFCOM Training Base for International Business Officials (Shanghai) of SBS, was successfully held on the morning of September 12. Attendees who delivered addresses at the ceremony included Chen Wei, Secretary of the Directly Affiliated Party Branch of the School of International Education, Shanghai Business School, and Xu Ting, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Tourism Association.
The friendship between China and Arab states, spanning millennia, has maintained close exchanges and cooperation since the ancient Silk Road. Since the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in 2004, the relationship has achieved “three leaps” from a “partnership” to a “strategic cooperative relationship” and then to a “strategic partnership”. At the inaugural China-Arab Summit in 2022, the Chinese President Xi jinping and Arab leaders jointly charted a new blueprint for China-Arab relations. They unanimously agreed to build a China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era, explicitly incorporating cultural and tourism cooperation into the scope of practical collaboration. It has laid a solid foundation for deepening the integration of culture and tourism, strengthening talent training, and enhancing industrial synergy.
Chen Wei pointed out that in this new era shaped by globalization and digitalization, the deep integration of culture and tourism is becoming a key engine for Arab nations in their economic diversification transformation. Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, this seminar is dedicated to providing participants from Arab countries with a high-level exchange platform to systematically understand China’s concepts and practices in integrated cultural and tourism development. He expressed the hope that, leveraging advanced cases of integrated cultural and tourism development from China, particularly Shanghai, the seminar will help Arab countries cultivate more specialized and high-quality professionals in this field. This collaborative effort aims to explore new pathways for “culture + tourism”, thereby contributing to regional economic diversification and the enhancement of public well-being.
Xu Ting expressed her great honor, on behalf of the expert instructor team, in welcoming the participants from Arab countries. She reviewed the longstanding mutual learning between civilizations and cultural-tourism exchanges between China and Arab nations, tracing back to the ancient Silk Road. She pointed out that culture forms the root, and tourism serves as the bridge, highlighting the profound innate connections that link China and the Arab world through culture and tourism. This seminar focuses on three key areas: the practical experience of China's integrated cultural and tourism development, innovative pathways for the cultural-tourism industry against diverse civilizational backgrounds, and the establishment of long-term cooperation platforms, all aimed at fostering mutual learning among Chinese and Arab professionals in this sector. She also encouraged the participants to immerse themselves in experiencing Shanghai's unique urban culture, a blend of Eastern and Western elements, and expressed her anticipation that this exchange would mark a new beginning for future practical cooperation and friendship.
The participant representative, Mr. Emil Samir Nashed Henin, Project Manager of the Coptic Painting Preservation Department, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt, stated that Shanghai’s developmental achievements are impressive. He noted that this exchange holds significant reference value for Arab countries in areas such as health tourism, heritage preservation, and balancing urban modernization. China’s successful experience in transforming cultural heritage into an economic driver is precisely what Arab nations urgently need. He appreciated the fruitful cooperation between Egypt and China in areas like heritage restoration and technical training and looked forward to further deepening joint initiatives. He sincerely thanked the Shanghai Business School and the organizing team for their meticulous arrangements and expressed his hope that the seminar would yield fruitful outcomes, jointly promoting the supportive role of the cultural and tourism industry in the economic development of Arab countries.
This session of the seminar lasts for 14 days and includes 29 participants from six countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, and Palestine. The seminar arranges field visits for participants to Nanning City and Qinzhou City in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Written by: Zhang Xinyue
