China assures assistance to develop tourism

China has assured Sri Lanka of further assistance to develop the tourism industry and raise the country's living standards by launching various tourism related programmes to enhance destination awareness in the Chinese market.

Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and the Central Committee Liu Yunshan who is currently on a visit to Sri Lanka revealed this at a meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday, according to a media release issued by Sri Lanka Tourism.

Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa were present at the event held to sign three bilateral cooperation agreements of tri- segmental developments in Sri Lanka in- cluding education, tourism and cultural affairs. Under the agreement relating to tourism, China will provide professional services of all its media channels and experts in order to develop international level television programmes for tourism in- dustry with producing and publishing Sri Lankan documentaries and articles in all mainstream media in China.