It is worth noting that throughout the whole year, both sides have jointly a variety of cultural tourism exchange activities.

For instance, on March 2, the EU's 66 landmark buildings in 18 member states including Belgium, France, Spain and Italy used "China Red" to light up famous landmarks around the Lantern Festival.

Likewise, on May 9, 32 landmark scenic spots of 18 cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Xi'an, were illuminated by the "EU Blue" in commemoration of the European Day of European Integration.

One of the highlight is that the closing ceremony of the EU-China Tourism Year, which was held in Xi'an on Nov 17, attracting more than 300 people including ambassadors and other diplomatic envoys from the European Union, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands, as well as representatives of Chinese and EU tourism enterprises and media.