To Wu Xi, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, tourism is a good way to improve mutual understanding and trust among the Chinese and American peoples.

"Tourism is an important carrier to boost people-to-people exchange between China and the US, an effective way to deepen the understanding and friendship between the two peoples, and an important source to boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation," Wu said in a press briefing at the embassy on Feb 26, ahead of a grand opening ceremony scheduled for Monday in Beijing to mark the 2016 China US Tourism Year.

The 2016 China US Tourism Year was jointly announced by President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama during Xi's state visit to the US last September. It aims to increase travel and tourism between the two countries by enhancing the travel experience, increasing travelers' cultural understanding and expanding the appreciation of natural landscapes in each other's countries.

Major events scheduled include one with 1,000 American tourists visiting the Great Wall, to be held in the wall's Jinshanling section in Hebei province on March 25; a tourism promotion in the US titled "Beautiful China-Maritime Silk Road"; a high-level China-US dialogue on tourism to be held in northwestern China's Ningxia autonomous region; and a grand closing ceremony at the end of the Tourism Year.

Wu said China and the US will work together to provide more convenience for tourists in both countries.

Wu cited tourism as a reflection of the win-win economic and trade relationship between the two countries.

She said that on average 2.1 million US tourists visited China each year in the past few years, the third-largest foreign source of tourists in China.

Meanwhile, China has also become the fourth-largest source of foreign tourists to the US.

[email protected]