On November 19th, Shao Qiwei (Chairman of China National Tourism Administration) met Michela Vittoria Brambilla (Italian Minister of Tourism) in Kunming.

Shao Qiwei expressed his thanks for Brambilla and Italian delegation coming to Kunming and participating in China International Tourism Trade Fair 2009 by chartering a special plane for this special trip. He said that China and Italy signed Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation in Rome by Chinese and Italian tourism authorities in July 2008 when China Tourism Office in Rome has usherd in the official opening. Since then, the tourism exchanges and cooperation between the two countries have made a good start. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy, meanwhile, the Italian "Chinese Culture Year", which is a good opportunity to expand two-way tourism between the two countries. China will host World Expo 2010 in Shanghai next year. So China will strengthen the publicity and promotion in Italy. Chinese side also hopes that the Italian tourism sector can take advantage of such a platform as China International Tourism Trade Fair to strengthen the development of Chinse market for Italian tourist destinations.

Brambilla said she had just participated in the opening ceremony of China International Tourism Trade Fair 2009, and the grand scenes were impressively memorable. Italy took part in China International Tourism Trade Fair 2009 with a strong troop. On the opening day, Chinese and Italian tourism enterprises conducted fruitful talks. The Italian side had the full confidence in the prospects for tourism cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, Shao Qiwei delivered the Chinese government’s approval documents for the establishment of the Italian Tourism Office in China to Brambilla.