SCO Secretary-General meets with Yunnan Province Vice-Governor Chen Shun

On 24 June 2019, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov met with Vice-Governor of Yunnan Province Chen Shun, while visiting the city of Kunming.

The Secretary-General noted that this trip had provided him with a unique opportunity to become familiar with the province's landmarks, to learn about its long-time history and culture and to admire the beauty of its wonderful nature.

"The International SCO Marathon in Kunming won genuine global acclaim. This sport brings people together and helps expand cooperation and exchanges between the SCO countries," Mr Norov noted and thanked the province's administrators for supporting the International SCO Marathon and their personal attention to it.

While noting that Yunnan Province was an appealing tourist destination (that is being taken advantage of) and that it attracts over 500 million tourists annually, Mr Norov said the SCO Secretariat was promoting the Eight Wonders of the SCO project to expand tourist exchanges between the SCO countries. Beijing had hosted a successful presentation of the project on 21 June in honour of SCO Day. Aiming to promote the project still further, Mr Norov suggested presenting it once again during the International Tourism Exhibition, scheduled for November 2019.

Vice-Governor of Yunnan Province Chen Shun thanked Mr Norov for visiting Kunming and briefed him on the province's current economic status, local exports, the development of the tourism industry, and cooperation with ASEAN countries.

He noted that the International SCO Marathon had provided a unique opportunity for strengthening the image of Kunming and Yunnan Province, and that it also helped to attract tourists. He also emphasised that Kunming University's China-SCO Centre of Youth Exchanges had great potential that should be exploited for the sake of expanding intra-SCO dialogue and youth contacts.

The Vice-Governor thanked Mr Norov for his proposals on tourism cooperation and supported the SCO Secretariat's participation at the International Tourism Exhibition in November.

The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere.