Shao Qiwei, director of China Tourism Association, and Roger Dow, president of the Travel Industry Association of America have signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shanghai on tourism between China and the United States.

Meanwhile, ten provincial or municipal tourism bureaus including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Shandong in China have signed cooperation agreements on tourism with ten American states — including California and Tennessee.

Shao said that this agreement is to encourage the Sino-US travel trade to cooperate in five aspects including building up a tourism information sharing platform; innovation on interactive systems for tourism promotion; setting up a system for the provinces and states in China and the US to create friendly relationships; expanding the communication channels for research academies in the tourism sectors of two countries; and promoting Sino-US cooperation in the field of tourism investment.

According to the agreements between ten Chinese provinces and ten American states, the two parties will cooperate in several aspects and various ways, including marketing and promotion in the tourism sector, developing tourism resources and integrating tour products, investment and operation, and information communication.