The Fujian Investment and Financing Matchmaking Event for Cultural and Tourism Projects. [Photo provided to gofujian.com]

The Fujian Cultural and Tourism Economic Development Conference held on April 18 in Quanzhou saw the signing of agreements for 17 projects, with a total investment of 23.16 billion yuan ($3.26 billion). Among them was a bank-enterprise cooperation project with a financing amount of 900 million yuan.

This year, Fujian has sparked a surge of interest in the development of the cultural and tourism economy and related projects. Across the province, 106 key cultural and tourism investment projects have secured cooperation agreements, totaling 118.34 billion yuan. Quanzhou has taken the lead both in terms of number of projects and total investment, with agreements signed for 28 projects in the city with a combined investment of 57.86 billion yuan.

During the Fujian Investment and Financing Matchmaking Event for Cultural and Tourism Projects held in the afternoon, agreements for a total of 36 key cultural and tourism projects were signed, encompassing regional cooperation, cooperation between the government and enterprises, industry integration, investment cooperation, and bank-enterprise partnerships. This included 27 investment cooperation projects amounting to 26.74 billion yuan and nine bank-enterprise cooperation projects worth 8.34 billion yuan.

Of these, Quanzhou signed agreements for 14 projects, comprising 10 investment cooperation projects totaling 18.63 billion yuan and four bank-enterprise cooperation projects with 1.09 billion yuan in funding. Five projects involved investments of over two billion yuan each.

Furthermore, the promotion of the cultural and tourism industrial chain covered five major areas on that day: marine tourism, ecological health preservation tourism, cultural heritage protection and utilization, the cross-border integrated development of the cultural and tourism industries, and using the cultural and tourism industries to drive rural vitalization.

In recent years, Fujian has focused on strengthening its cultural and tourism industrial chain, improving models to attract major projects, and introducing a number of influential and exemplary projects, injecting strong new impetus into the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism economies.

On the evening of April 17, the conference commenced with an opening ceremony featuring a captivating situation promotion performance showcasing Quanzhou's distinctive characteristics, extending a warm welcome to guests from around the world. Following the conference, attendees had the opportunity to participate in the Quanzhou China-chic Cultural Festival, where they learned about Quanzhou's historical culture and experienced its unique charm.

The opening ceremony of the Fujian Cultural and Tourism Economic Development Conference. [Photo provided to gofujian.com]