The opening ceremony of the 6th China (Sichuan) International Tourism Investment Conference and the 7th Sichuan International Travel Expo kicked off online in Leshan on September 25. Peng Qinghua, Secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee, attended the ceremony and declared the opening. Other distinguished guests addressed the ceremony, including Yin Li, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Governor of the People's Government of Sichuan Province, Mario Hardy, CEO of Pacific Area Travel Association, Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism of the Kingdom of Cambodia (representative of guest countries of honor), and Zheng Xiangdong, Vice Mayor of Chongqing (guest municipality of honor). Zhang Xu, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism of the PRC, and Deng Xiaogang, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee, attended the ceremony.

　　At 9:20 am or so, the opening ceremony officially started with the unveiling of Sichuan's new cultural tourism mascot– Panda "An Yi".

　　In his speech, Yin Li welcomed guests and friends online and offline on behalf of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Sichuan people. After that, he said that Sichuan has great potential in the development of cultural tourism with its profound history and culture, beautiful and vast mountains, and strong folk customs. By thoroughly studying and implementing Xi Jinping's Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era and the spirits of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on Sichuan's development, the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and People's Government of Sichuan Province focus their efforts on project reserve and investment attraction to advance the development of cultural tourism, in pursuit of building Sichuan into a powerhouse of culture and tourism and an important world tourist destination. They have planned a wide range of landmark and leading projects in the cultural tourism industry to attract all kinds of investment in the industry and accelerate the transformation of resource advantages into development advantages. Sichuan is now deeply involved in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Western Development in the New Era. It is making great efforts to propel the development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and contributing to the new development pattern whereby domestic and foreign markets can boost each other with the domestic market as the mainstay. Sichuan will strengthen opening-up, communication and cooperation, follow the new trend of upgrading and transformation of tourism consumption, collect advantageous cultural tourism resources at home and abroad, speed up the development of key cultural tourism projects, focus on building new forms, new modes and new systems of tourism products, and make every effort to strengthen cultural tourism brands such as "Tianfu Tourism Famous Counties", thereby continuing to promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry. Everyone is welcomed to come to Sichuan for experiencing its unique charm and vitality. Entrepreneurs are also expected to actively participate in the new round of tourism development in Sichuan. Sichuan will create an enabling environment to unswervingly support the development of enterprises in Sichuan so as to achieve a new future of mutual benefit and win-win results.

　　Mario Hardy said in his video speech that potential opportunities for the reopening of the tourism industry still exist in spite of profound changes in the landscape of the industry by COVID-19. China, as a crucial driver for global tourism development, is providing support for industry restructuring and recovery. In this sense, the conference provides an ideal platform to promote our concerted efforts in deeper exchanges and cooperation in the tourism industry.

　　Thong Khon said in his video speech that this Expo helps for boosting the confidence of Chinese tourists in traveling to Cambodia after the pandemic. Cambodia warmly welcomes Chinese investors and tourists, especially those from Sichuan, and will provide the best and warm services.

　　Zheng Xiangdong congratulated the opening of the conference in his speech on behalf of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and Chongqing Municipal People's Government. He said that by keeping the close relationship between Sichuan and Chongqing and their coordinated development in mind, Chongqing will deepen the cooperation and connection between the two sides, and jointly build the Bashu Cultural Tourism Corridor, striving to make new achievements in the development of Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle.

　　Sichuan's 20 international sister-cities also congratulated the opening of the conference via video. Gao Zheng, Director of Industrial Development Division of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the PRC, and Sun Hongbin, Chairman of the Board of Sunac China Holdings Limited (Sunac China), made speeches at the opening ceremony. Several activities including the promotion of outstanding key cultural tourism investment projects in Sichuan Province in 2020, the signing of 79 major cultural tourism projects, and the launch of "Zhiyou Tianfu", a public service platform for cultural tourism were also held.

　　After the agenda, Peng Qinghua announced the opening of the 6th China (Sichuan) International Tourism Investment Conference and the 7th Sichuan International Travel Expo.

　　On the afternoon of September 24, Peng Qinghua met with well-known business leaders attending the event in Leshan. Before the opening ceremony, provincial leaders such as Peng Qinghua, Yin Li, and Deng Xiaogang, together with participants, went to Sichuan International Tourism Trade Expo Center to visit Sichuan Culture and Tourism Theme Exhibition in different groups.

　　Luo Qiang, Vice Governor of People's Government of Sichuan Province, presided over the opening ceremony at the main session, with parallel sessions set up in cities (prefectures) of Sichuan. Provincial leaders including Fan Ruiping, Wang Yihong, Chen Wenhua and Wang Zhengrong, officials from divisions under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the PRC, cities and prefectures of Sichuan, departments (units) directly under the provincial government, and some central departments in Sichuan, as well as leaders from renowned cultural tourism enterprises and tourism associations such as China Poly Group, OCT Group, China Tourism Group, China Cultural Media Group Co., Ltd., China CYTS Tours Holding Co., Ltd., Joyu Group and Fantawild Holdings Inc., attended the opening ceremony at the main session. More than 2,000 guests from domestic and foreign cultural tourism investment enterprises and representatives of exhibitors attended the opening ceremony online.