【Record】Mr. Na Shuchen, Director- General of Hebei Provincial Department of Culture & Tourism，Gives a Speech in the In-Depth Discussion on "Reorienting Tourism Investment and Recasting the Industry"

Moderator: Distinguished guests, panelists will conduct an in-depth discussion on "Reorienting Tourism Investment and Recasting the Industry". Three parts will be included, such as self-introduction, Q&A and a short summary section.

The first section is about self-introduction. Please briefly introduce yourself and the institution that you are working for. Besides, your feeling and expectation towards the conference should be given. All these should be stated in 2 minutes.

Mr. Na Shuchen, Director- General of Hebei Provincial Department of Culture & Tourism

Na Shuchen: I work for Hebei Provincial Department of Culture & Tourism. First of all, I'd like to introduce Hebei province. Beijing and Tianjin are surrounded by the province. If the capital is the heart, Hebei will be the chest. Distinguished guests, you need to go through Heibei whether you come to Beijing by plane, high-speed railway or car. Without knowing it, you have already passed through the province when you arrive in Beijing. With 75 million people, Hebei covers 188,000 square kilometers. It contains most of China's landforms, such as seas, lakes, plains, plateaus, mountains, hills and desert. It embraces long history, rich culture and impressive natural landscapes. Besides, Hebei is influenced by Beijing and Tianjin. It has become a wonderland. Welcome to visit Hebei more often for sightseeing and leisure. Thank you!

Moderator: Next, let's give the floor to Mr. Na Shuchen, Director- General of Hebei Provincial Department of Culture & Tourism. Distinguished Mr. Na, we have two questions. You've mentioned that Hebei is the only province with all kinds of landforms and rich tourism resources in China. In recent years, it is the most well-known province attracting tourism investment. May I ask your opinions about the pandemic's influence on tourism investment and financing?

What's the new plan and reform on tourism development, investment and financing in the coming years in Hebei during the pandemic? This is the second question.

Na Shuchen: Thank you. Hebei province used to be a large steel producer. In recent years, it is fast evolving and highlights the modern service industry. Tourism is the pillar industry which is given priority to. Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, the province has invested more than 100 billion in tourism every year. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the investment has tripled than that during the 12th Five-Year Plan period.

In 2019, Hebei province received 783 million arrivals and the total income of tourism reached RMB 931.3 billion. The number of tourists has increased by 20% every year consecutively. The total income of tourism has grown by more than 30%.

Hebei attaches great importance to and puts more effort into developing tourism at full speed. Hence, the government has entitled Hebei to become one of the seven units to create an integrated tourism demonstration province. COVID-19 has greatly influenced the culture and tourism industry in 2020. In the conference, leaders and guests have elaborated on the pandemic's influence on the industry profoundly.

We should notice that the epidemic has not only restricted tourists' movement and decreased people's income, but also impacted tourism investment. Mr. Chen, Secretary-General of World Tourism Cites Federation and Director-General of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, gave a speech. In his words, the investment has decreased by 50%. As we all know, investment means capacity, bringing new types of business, products and projects. It adds momentum to future development. However, the pandemic is a huge blow to investment.

The epidemic's influence is reflected in three aspects.

Firstly, tourism investors became more cautious. They are more aware of risks.

Secondly, investment strategy, orientation and focus have changed drastically. Market demand in the industry has seen new changes. The market has more segments and becomes more specialized, personalized and customized. People's needs for green tourism when referring to life styles, work and consumption ways require investors to adjust their investment strategy, orientation and focus.

Thirdly, the current commercial operating model should be recast and innovated. Most companies in Hebei receive their financing from banks. However, they didn't expect that COVID-19 would sweep such a wide range and last so long. Therefore, the pandemic becomes the last draw when companies meet debt ratio imbalance or have bad debts. Some companies have run out of cash or restructured their assets.

These are the three aspects reflecting the pandemic's influence.

Next, I'll move on to the second question. Sitting in a special geographical position, Hebei province becomes the heart of economy. In recent years, the coordinate development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the planning and establishment of Xiong'an New Area, the 2022 Winter Olympics jointly held by Beijing and Zhangjiakou have brought Hebei and its tourism unprecedented opportunities.

We will abide by the national major strategies according to the national conditions, and invite investors to share the pie. Firstly, we should give priority to create a leisure resort circle surrounding the capital. Besides, we will build an ice and snow resort in Zhangjiakou-Chengde area because of the 2022 Winter Olympics. In addition, we plan to establish a demonstration zone featuring innovative greening in Xiong'an New Area. At the same time, we will build a few travel zones, such as Taihang Mountians Travel Zone, Yan Mountains Travel Zone and Coastal Travel Zone.

As we all know, the secretary-general suggests that we should build 3 national cultural parks which are the Great Wall National Cultural Park, the Grand Canal National Cultural Park and the Long March National Cultural Park. The Great Wall has 2,498 kilometers passing through Hebei. Its most impressive section is the Jinshanling Great Wall. The Grand Canal has 530 kilometers passing through Hebei. Two of the three parks encompass the province, which is Hebei's honor. We should grasp the opportunity to establish the Great Wall Culture and Travel Zone, and the Grand Canal Culture and Travel Zone.

Secondly, we should release the potential of consumption abroad by inbound tourism and intra-provincial tourism according to domestic circulation. Travel is people's basic right and one of their ways to live. Global tourism is a huge market. At present, cross-border tourism is restricted because of the pandemic. However, people's aspiration to travel needs to be satisfied. How to safely release the potential of consumption abroad by inbound tourism? We should foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. At present, we need to focus on domestic circulation in order to integrate and optimize the supply of our products and services.

Thirdly, we should focus on Hebei's features and explore deeply into the features of its cultural resources by culture and technology, adjustment of product mix, and transformation and upgrade. All these will add flavor to Hebei's culture and tourism products. Thank you.