Voices

“In its drive to achieve creative， coordinated， green， open， and shared development， China has made tourism a strategic pillar and a major driver of economic transformation and upgrading. As the worlds leading tourism market， 135 million Chinese visitors traveled abroad in 2016 and spent US $261 billion. It is estimated， in the coming five years， Chinas outbound visitors will reach 700 million， providing even greater opportunities for shared development and prosperity.”

Remarks by Yang Yanyi， head of the Chinese Mission to the EU， at the High-level Event on “A European Strategy to Enhance the Competitiveness of the Tourism Industry， a Key Driver for Job Creation” on September 28， 2017.

“The Confucius Institute in the U.K. is growing fast. It has become a vivid example of cultural exchanges between our two countries. At present， there are 29 Confucius Institutes and 145 Confucius Classrooms across this country. The number of registered students has exceeded 130，000， more than that of any European country. This， in a sense， reflects the Scottish peoples enthusiasm for the Chinese culture.”

An extract from Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaomings speech at the Fifth Anniversary Celebration of the Confucius Institute for Scotlands Schools， entitled “Seeds of Friendship and Fruits of Cooperation”， on September 19， 2017.endprint