CAIRO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing Chengdu Panda Week activities in Cairo have opened new opportunities for mutual visits, cultural exchange, and deeper tourism cooperation between China and Egypt, an Egyptian official has said.
"Egypt is stepping up efforts to tap the Chinese tourism market by participating in professional tourism exhibitions in China, organizing promotional activities, and maintaining direct contacts with Chinese tourism companies and travel agencies," said Mohamed Shoman, an adviser to the Minister of State for Media for Public Communication and Training.
China-Egypt tourism cooperation is expanding beyond tourist exchanges to areas including tourism services, infrastructure development, investment, and the management of resorts and hotels, Shoman added.
The four-day events, running Thursday through Sunday at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC), feature a Chengdu promotion, showcasing the southwestern Chinese city renowned for its giant pandas, and an exhibition on the ancient Shu civilization, a Bronze Age culture from today's Sichuan Province.
More than 100 representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, Egypt's Ministry of Information, the NMEC, the Grand Egyptian Museum and Cairo University, among other institutions, took part in an event, themed "Dialogue of Solar Civilizations -- Chengdu Panda Week Activities."
At a Chengdu cultural tourism promotion titled "Chengdu: More Than Giant Pandas," Zhu Xiaozhong, minister-counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, said, "The embassy is ready to continue serving as a bridge between the two countries and promote people-to-people exchanges, tourism and mutual understanding." ■