The opening ceremony of the fourth China Summer Resort Tourism Industrial Summit and a leisure tourism festival was held in Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, Northeast China's Jilin province on July 7.

A joint endeavor by the China Tourism Academy and the China Meteorological Administration, the summit is meant to facilitate sustainable development in the summer resort tourism industry.

Bayinchaolu, Party chief of the province, said in a speech at the ceremony that Jilin welcomes people from all over the world to experience a "cool and relaxing summer".

The province has been taking tourism as a tool to promote supply-side structural reform and achieve high-quality growth, according to the Party chief Bayin Chaolu.

He noted that Jilin has seen a rapid development of its tourism industry thanks to the efforts made on improved planning, construction and management.

As mass tourism develops, summer resorts have become popular tourist destinations among holiday-goers.

Jilin is at the northernmost part of China's temperate zone. The average temperature is about 22 degrees Celsius in summer.

It is striving to promote its presence as a summer resort and develop the local economy, Bayin Chaolu noted.

Distinguished guests attending the ceremony included Sofia Gutierrez, Deputy Director of Programmes of Sustainable Tourism Development of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Colin Mackerras, Australian Sinologist and winner of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, a think tank under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The winners of a group of awards, such as the Summer Resort Cities with the most growth potential and Best Summer Resort Cities were unveiled at the event.

Jilin governor Jing Junhai chaired the ceremony.