感受中国之美，共建友谊合作之桥
Get a Glimpse of the Beauty of China and Build a Bridge of Friendship and Cooperation
驻英国大使刘晓明在世界旅游交易会（伦敦）·中国展区启动仪式上的讲话
Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming at the Opening Ceremony of the China Pavilion at WTM London
2019年11月4日
4 November 2019
尊敬的英国数文媒体部政务次官沃特利女士，
尊敬的英国议会上院议员贝茨勋爵，
尊敬的中国文化和旅游部巡视员李健钢先生，
Parliamentary Under Secretary Helen Whately,
Lord Bates,
Mr. Li Jiangang,
女士们、先生们，
Ladies and Gentlemen:
大家上午好！
Good morning!
很高兴出席2019“世界旅游交易会（伦敦）·中国展区”启动仪式。
It is a real delight to join you at the Opening Ceremony of the China Pavilion at WTM London.
在全球化深入发展的今天，旅游已成为不同国家、不同文化交流互鉴的重要渠道。今年是中华人民共和国成立70周年。70年来，中国文化旅游业从小到大、从弱到强，迎来了大发展、大繁荣时代。今年也是中英建立代办级外交关系65周年。65年来，中英文化旅游合作也从无到有，不断走深走实，迎来“黄金时代”。展望未来，中英旅游合作潜力巨大，前景广阔。
In a deeply globalized world, tourism has become an important channel of exchange and mutual learning between different countries and different cultures. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In the past 70 years, the cultural and travel industry in China has achieved much progress, turning the country into a major player in world tourism. China’s tourism industry has entered an era of rapid development and great prosperity.
第一，旅游为体验人类文化魅力提供载体。旅游集物质消费和精神享受于一体，是修身养性之道，与文化密不可分。中华民族自古就把旅游和读书结合在一起，崇尚“读万卷书，行万里路”。中国既有深厚的5000年文化积淀，又有蓬勃发展的现代旅游产业，吸引着世界各地游客纷至沓来。同样，依托优秀人文资源发展旅游也是英国旅游业的一大特色。从大英博物馆到爱丁堡国际艺术节，从牛津大学、剑桥大学到莎士比亚故居，既是英国传统和现代文化的代表，也是重要的旅游名片。一切美好的事物都是相通的。中英两国虽然传统各异，但都把历史文化和现代文明融入旅游经济发展，致力打造更多体现文化内涵、人文精神的旅游亮点。
First, travelling is an important way to experience the charm of different cultures. People travel for spiritual well-being as well as leisure consumption. Travel is always regarded as a way to cultivate the mind and therefore is closely connected with culture. The Chinese people have always regarded travel as part of culture, placing equal value on “reading ten thousand books” and “travelling ten thousand miles”. With a profound civilisation of 5,000 years and thriving modern tourism industry, China has attracted tourists from all over the world. Likewise, an important feature of UK’s tourism industry is that it is rooted in Britain’s rich cultural resources. “Must-see” destinations, such as the British Museum, the Edinburgh International Festival, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and Shakespeare’s Family Homes, all represent Britain’s traditional and modern culture. All beautiful things are similar. China and the UK, though with different traditions, have both integrated their traditional and modern cultures into the tourism industry. Both countries are committed to fostering tourism highlights that embody the essence and spirit of their cultures.
第二，旅游为提高人民福祉注入动力。旅游是发展经济、增加就业的有效手段。一方面，旅游减贫成为全球减贫的关键领域。改革开放40多年来，中国7亿多贫困人口摆脱贫困，其中旅游业成为偏远乡村地区脱贫的重要途径。本次中国展区就讲述了旅游扶贫的成功故事。另一方面，中国已成为全球最大出境游市场。2017年中国出境旅游人数达1.43亿人次，出境旅游支出额达2577亿美元，均位居世界第一，不仅为世界旅游业发展作出了贡献，也为世界经济提供了中国力量。2018年，中国首次进入英国最有价值的十大入境游客市场行列，来英中国游客每人次平均花费超过1600英镑，是赴英旅游全球游客平均水平的2.8倍。
Second, travel industry provides an effective driving force for improving people’s life. The travel industry is an effective way to grow the economy and increase employment. Reducing poverty through developing the tourism industry has played a key role in advancing the global cause of poverty reduction. Take China for example. In the past 40 plus years since the beginning of reform and opening up, China has lifted more than 700 million people out of poverty. The development of tourism in remote rural areas played an important role in this success. Here at the China Pavilion, you could get to know some typical cases of poverty reduction through tourism. China is now the largest market for outbound tourism. In 2017, China topped the world both in the number of people travelling abroad, which was 143 million, and in tourist expenditure overseas, which was 257.7 billion dollars. This was an important contribution not only to the global tourism industry, but also to the world economy as a whole. In 2018, China became one of UK’s top ten most valuable sources of tourists. On average, Chinese tourists spent more than 1,600 pound in Britain per person, which was 2.8 times the average tourist spending in this country.
第三，旅游为增进东西方文明交流互鉴搭建桥梁。中英是东西方文明的代表，都拥有悠久历史、灿烂文化、壮美山川、多样风情，都是旅游大国。目前，中英之间航班每周168个班次，每天人员互访超过4000人次。旅游使两国民众深深感受到彼此的热情和好客，也增进了对彼此文明的了解和理解。文明因交流而多彩、文明因互鉴而发展。随着经济的发展和人民生活水平的提高，“求新、求奇、求知、求乐”日益成为旅游者的共同愿望。两国政府和业界可在旅游政策和实践上加强互学互鉴，增进民众友谊，进一步夯实两国关系民意基础，为促进东西方人文交流发挥表率作用。
Third, travelling helps build a bridge for exchanges and mutual learning between the Chinese and Western civilisations. Both China and the UK are great civilisations. With profound history, splendid culture, magnificent landscape and diverse customs, both countries have rich tourism resources. There are now 168 flights between China and the UK per week, facilitating more than 4,000 mutual visits every day. By visiting each other’s country, our people could enjoy each other’s hospitality and enhance understanding of each other’s culture. Such exchanges and mutual learning in turn enrich civilisations. As our economies continue to grow and people’s life continues to improve, today’s tourists aspire for new, unique, informative and entertaining experience. This requires the governments and tourism industry of our two countries to enhance mutual learning both in policies and in practice. Closer exchanges and cooperation will deepen the friendship between our peoples and cement the public support for our bilateral relations. It will also set an example for cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
女士们、先生们，
Ladies and Gentlemen:
人们常说：旅行开阔眼界（Travel broadens the mind）。我期望，通过本次活动，大家进一步开阔眼界，不仅感受中国之美，更看好中英文化旅游合作。让我们携起手来，为建设中英友谊之桥、合作之桥，为推动两国旅游业取得更大发展共同作出努力！
As people often say, “Travel broadens the mind”. I hope today’s event will give you a glimpse of the beauty of China and display the promising future of China-UK cooperation on culture and tourism.Let’s join hands to build a bridge of friendship and cooperation between our two countries and achieve greater success in our tourism industry!
谢谢！
Thank you!