Xi: Tourism important for progress

President addresses letter to UN organization meeting in Chengdu

China, with long history, rich culture and beautiful scenery, welcomes tourists from all over the world, President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory letter to an international tourism meeting on Wednesday.

"Tourism is an important channel for different countries and cultures to communicate with each other, an effective way of developing a country's economy and a key industry to improve people's lives," he said in the letter to the 22nd General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.