The city of Hunchun, in Jilin province played host to around 200 delegates from NE Asia, on Nov 10, at the 4th Greater Tumen Initiative forum on tourism whose purpose was to increase cooperation in that area among nearby countries.

The forum provides an opportunity to discuss tourism development experiences, with the emphasis on working hand-in-hand.

It also gave various representatives the chance to give their views on tourism products and on a possible Sino-Russia cross-border tourism demonstration park, which could increase cooperation with other neighboring countries and other organizations.

In commenting briefly on the forum's significance, Lin Tian, deputy director of the Jilin tourism bureau, noted, "It has been fruitful," then went on to give a bird's-eye view of the tourism network, by saying, "[We]should work together to build a convenient transportation system to link the various regional cities."

The forum was the work of the Greater Tumen Initiative, an intergovernmental cooperation effort, founded in 1995, which involves China, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea and Russia, with support from the United Nations Development Programme.