On May 26 local time, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka met with Shao Qiwei, visiting Chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), and his delegation in Kutná Hora, a city in central Czech.

Bohuslav Sobotka welcomed Shao and his delegation to visit Czech. He said that 2014 marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Czech and China, and the Czech government attaches great importance to strengthening its relation with China. Since tourism is a major bridge to strengthen bilateral ties, he hoped to promote the development of Czech-China relations by boosting tourist exchanges. According to Bohuslav Sobotka, to make the country’s tourism products more competitive in China, Czech has taken a series of measures including streamlining visa procedures, opening direct flights and actively conducting cultural exchanges. He introduced that home to 12 world heritage sites, Czech abounds in tourism resources, and its advanced accommodation and service capabilities enable the country to receive more Chinese tourists.

Shao thanked Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka for meeting with the delegation, which reflected the importance he attaches to their visit and his friendliness for Chinese people. Shao briefly introduced the current development of Chinese tourism industry and the first high-level meeting of China-Central and East Europe Association of Tourism Promotion Agencies and Enterprises held in Hungary’s capital city Budapest on May 22.

The main purpose of the visit to Central and Eastern Europe is to carry out the consensus reached by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders of the 16 Central and Eastern European countries on supporting the China-Central and East Europe Association of Tourism Promotion Agencies and Enterprise to further push tourism cooperation between the two sides, stressed Shao. He appreciated Czech’s active efforts to take a series of measures to facilitate Chinese tourists, and believed the two sides can work together to make Czech a new tourist destination for them. Shao urged Czech to further intensify tourism promotion and publicity in China, make full use of the internet and other new media, and constantly enhance the influence of its tourism brand.