By Reporter Kayla lee
In celebration of the 31st anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and China have expressed their intentions to promote mutual development in the tourism industry through the resumption of group tours and to enhance exchange and cooperation in various fields such as future, economy, and culture.
On the morning of July 26, Governor Oh Young-hoon met with Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming at Jeju Dream Tower, requesting active cooperation from the Chinese government to ensure that Chinese group tourists visiting Jeju can recover to pre-COVID-19 levels. He emphasized the need to maintain close inter-regional cooperation between the two areas.
Governor Oh and Ambassador Xing Haiming attended the opening ceremony of the "Korea-China Future Development Jeju International Exchange Week," where they explored future development and joint economic growth between Jeju Island and Chinese exchange cities.
Governor Oh expressed his gratitude, saying, "Since my request for cooperation in February to allow Jeju tourism through short-term visas, the number of individual Chinese tourists has increased about 26 times compared to last year, greatly contributing to the activation of the local economy in Jeju."
He further requested, "In addition to individual tourism, I ask for active cooperation from the Chinese authorities to allow Chinese group tourists to visit Jeju as well."
Governor Oh also expressed expectations that with the opening of direct flights between Jeju and Beijing from March this year, group tourism, business incentive tourism, and cruise tourism will be revitalized, leading to the restoration of the tourism industry to pre-COVID-19 levels.
He added that in August, he plans to visit Beijing to provide detailed explanations about Jeju tourism to the citizens of Beijing and meet with high-ranking officials in the fields of culture and arts to gather diverse opinions.
Ambassador Xing Haiming responded, saying, "I am paying special attention to your request to ensure that many Chinese group tourists can visit Jeju. As Jeju puts a lot of effort into promoting China-Korea friendly exchanges, I will convey Jeju's request to the Chinese government so that it can be well received."
He emphasized the importance of tourism exchanges between China and Korea, stating, "Since China and Korea are inseparable neighbors, they should have frequent exchanges to become closer to each other. Due to COVID-19, tourism between Jeju and China had to be inevitably suspended, but we will make efforts together with Jeju to resume tourism between the two countries."
He added, "Despite significant changes in the international situation, China and Jeju remain friends and neighbors with a history of thousands of years of exchange, and we should respect each other to develop bilateral relations in a positive direction. The Chinese government will continue to support the promotion of exchanges and economic cooperation between Jeju and Chinese regions."
The Korea-China Future Development International Exchange Week held from July 25 to 28, aims to strengthen exchange and cooperation between South Korea and China in the post-COVID-19 era and explore cooperative development in future new industries and the economy.
The opening ceremony, which took place at 9:30 a.m. on July 26 at Dream Tower, was attended by Governor Oh Young-hoon, Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming, Kim Kyung-hak, Chairman of the Jeju Provincial Council, Kim Kwang-su, Superintendent of Education, Wang Lushin, Consul General of the Chinese Consulate in Jeju, and Baek Beom-heum, Deputy Chief of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat of South Korea, China, and Japan, along with around 200 others, including officials from Jeju-China friendly exchange cities and China-Korea friendship organizations.
During the event, various topics were discussed among experts, including mutual complementation in future industries between Korea and China, fostering renewable energy industries for carbon neutrality, the future of trade and marine industries between Korea and China, and exploring future cooperation between Jeju and Chinese exchange cities.
