On April 20, Xu Liyi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Henan Provincial Committee and secretary of the CPC Zhengzhou Municipal Committee, met with guests from the domestic tourist cities to participate in the 2021 International Mayors’ Forum on Tourism in the city.

Xu extended a warm welcome to the guests and expressed his heartfelt thanks to the sister cities for their care and support to the city in the event of the Yellow River Culture Month. Xu pointed out that the Yellow River culture is the root and soul of Chinese culture and Henan is an important birthplace of Chinese culture. Located in the hinterland of Central China, Zhengzhou boasts a superior geographical position and rich historical and cultural resources, and thus serves as a significant spatial hub in China and an important node city of the Belt and Road. In recent years, Zhengzhou has thoroughly implemented the ecological protection and high-quality development strategy of the Yellow River basin, and made continuous efforts to integrate itself into the new development paradigm with close attention to the development goals of "modernization and internationalization" and "a strong city in innovation, hub, cultural tourism, ecology and rule of law". As a result, the advantages of the hub have been highlighted, the opening up system has been further improved, and all aspects of the economy and society have shown a good development momentum. At present, it has developed into a city with the largest economic volume along the Yellow River. The Yellow River Culture Month activities are important measures for Zhengzhou to implement the strategy of ecological protection, high-quality development, cultural inheritance and storytelling of the Yellow River. They are of positive significance for fostering stronger confidence in culture and sharing the stories of the Yellow River. The International Mayors' Forum on Tourism, as an important part of these activities, has built a platform for communication, exchange and cooperation between Chinese and foreign tourism cities. Xu expects the guests to visit more places in Henan and offer valuable suggestions for Zhengzhou's socio-economic development.

The guests praised Zhengzhou for its long history and profound culture as well as its remarkable results achieved in socio-economic development in recent years. In addition, the holding of the Yellow River Culture Month activities has further highlighted the advantages and development trends of the city's cultural tourism industry. The guests are going to actively seek for common characteristics in cultural tourism with Zhengzhou, further strengthen exchanges, cooperation and interaction and facilitate common development and progress.

Attendees of the meeting covered relevant heads from such tourism cities as Chongqing, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Qingdao, Taiyuan, Xining, Yinchuan, Hohhot, Meizhou, Dongguan, Sanya, Dali, Wuhu, Tai'an, Rizhao, Shantou, Heyuan, Emeishan, Golmud and Jinghong, as well as Niu Weiguo, Zhang Chunyang, Sun Xiaohong, Gao Yong, Wang Wanpeng and other municipal officials of Zhengzhou.