A launch ceremony of Sino-Japanese tourism promotion activity was held in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Oct 17.

Organized by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the activity will invite Japanese tourists to travel to Zhejiang in a bid to boost its inbound tourism industry battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A launch ceremony of Sino-Japanese tourism promotion activity is held in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Oct 17. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]

Officials of Zhejiang province and Japan attending the launch ceremony included Chu Ziyu, head of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Takamoto Fukuda, deputy consul general of Japan in Shanghai.

Chu gave a warm welcome to the Japanese officials and introduced the tourism resources of Zhejiang. He also highlighted their cooperative relationship in the tourism industry and expressed his determination to work with the Japanese government and institutions to achieve common revitalization.

Fukuda also made a keynote speech at the launch ceremony. He reviewed the previous situation of Sino-Japanese exchanges and put forward some suggestions about cooperation in tourism between Zhejiang and Japan.

Many travel agent representatives in Zhejiang also signed cooperation agreements online with Japan's JTB Corporation and HIS travel agency, which is expected to promote the bilateral tourism industry in the future.

An art performance is staged during the launch ceremony. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]

In addition, a series of performances were staged at the ceremony in a bid to showcase the essence of Buddhism, tea culture, costumes and music shared by China and Japan.