In the afternoon of April 3, President Dai Bin met with The Honourable Dato’ Seri Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia, and his delegation in the southern compound of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

    President Dai Bin started with a welcome to Minister Tiong King Sing and his delegation for their visit, and expressed the willingness of China Tourism Academy to fully communicate with Malaysia on tourism-related issues. Upon the invitation of Minister Tiong King Sing, President Dai made a speech titled Beautiful China and Malaysia Madani, Hand in Hand for a New Future of Asian Tourism.

    President Dai said that Malaysia has rich natural, historical and cultural resources, well-connected transportation network and reception facilities, and well-educated tourism professionals, which makes it a popular overseas destination for Chinese tourists and a major source of inbound tourists for China. The remarkable achievements of China-Malaysia tourism exchanges are attributed to the sound interactions and policy innovation of the tourism departments of the two countries, to the steady growth in trade, investment and business interactions between the two countries, and to the extensive consensus and wholehearted collaboration between the public sector, commercial institutions and all social communities of the two countries.

    President Dai noted that in the face of changes unseen in a century, China and Malaysia need to engage in more tourism exchanges, and carry out deeper and more diversified tourism cooperation. He expressed the hope for the two countries to further deepen cultural exchanges and tourism cooperation, further expand sub-national exchanges and city-to-city cooperation, and increase the exchanges and interactions between their tourism communities. President Dai said that the China Tourism Academy is ready to jointly promote the building of national tourism think tank alliance with Malaysia on the basis of friendly consultations, conduct regular academic discussion, policy research and data exchange, and provide theoretical and data support for the high-quality development of culture-tourism integration in both China and Malaysia.

    Minister Tiong King Sing thanked President Dai Bin and his team for their comprehensive tourism data and consulting opinions, as well as their contribution to the tourism exchanges between China and Malaysia. He expressed the willingness to introduce more quality tourism resources to the Chinese market, and build a bridge of cooperation between the tourism communities of both sides. Minister Tiong King Sing said that Malaysia and China have an enduring and robust relationship and a strong bond of historical ties. The two countries are each other’s important tourist sources. Since becoming one of the first overseas destinations for outbound Chinese tourists in the 1990s, Malaysia has developed rich tourism resources and cultivated a mature industry. Through this meeting, the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism hopes to consolidate its working relationship and deepen friendship with the China Tourism Academy, and discuss issues concerning two-way exchanges and cooperation. Minister Sing warmly invited President Dai to visit Malaysia for research and study, in order to provide better services for Chinese tourists.

    The two sides also explored the formal establishment of cooperative relations and reached agreement.

    Malaysian participants include Dato’ Dr. Ammar Abd. Ghapar, Tourism Malaysia International (America, Europe, Oceania) Senior Director, Mr. Manoharan Periasamy, Tourism Malaysia International (Asia/Africa) Senior Director, Mr. Tuan Razali, Minister (Tourism) Embassy of Malaysia, Mr. Mohd Fazli bin Abdul Jalil, Senior Private Secretary to Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ms Ednie Rahma, Special Officer To The Minister, Ms. Yong Ee Chin, Deputy Undersecretary, Tourism Policy and International Affairs Division, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ms. Hong Xiao Yun, Senior Assistant Director, Tourism Policy and International Affairs Division, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Ling Ning Hui, Private Secretary to Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Ng Yu Xuan, Malaysia-China Business Council Senior Representative, Mr. Samuel Lee, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia-China Business Council, Ms. Puan Nuwal Fadhilah Ku Azmi, Deputy Director, International Promotion Division ( Asia/Africa), Tourism Malaysia, Ms. Amanina, Deputy Director, Tourism Section of Malaysia Consulate-General in Shanghai, Mr. Zhao Gang, Marketing Manager, Tourism Malaysia Beijing Office.

    The chief statistician of CTA Ma Yiliang, Director of International Research Institute Yang Jinsong, Director of Administration and Personnel Department Xia Shaoyan, Director of International Exchange and Finance Department Yang Liqiong, Foreign affairs supervisor of International Exchange and Finance Department Zhang Danyang, postdoctoral fellow Zhang Wenying and visiting scholar Ye Yao attended the meeting.