China, Russia unite on 'red tourism'

CHANGSHA - "Red tourism", tourism featuring visits to historical sites with a revolutionary legacy, is a natural area for cooperation between Russia and China.

According to an agreement signed by tourism chiefs from China and Russia Monday in central China's Hunan province, from 2015 to 2017, the two countries will work together on popularizing red tourism, develop destinations and routes and cooperate on marketing.

The memorandum was signed by Li Jinzao, head of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and Oleg Safonov, head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of Russia, one of a series of promotional activities held between June 28 and July 1 in Shaoshan City, birthplace of Mao Zedong.

Safonov said, China and Russia have great potential to develop tourism resources together.

Li Jinzao said, both China and Russia have rich red tourism resources. This year is the 70th anniversary of the victory of China's war against Japan and Russia's Great Patriotic War, and red tourism is all about remembering history and cherishing peace.

Also on Monday, China and Russia published ten red tourist routes and over 20 travel agencies from both countries signed a cooperation agreement.

CNTA data showed China's red tourism sites received more than 4 billion tourists in the past decade, with numbers growing by 16 percent annually.