18/01/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 19 January, the EU-China Tourism Year will be officially launched at the Doge’s Palace in Venice. This initiative follows the EU-China summit in July 2016 (see EUROPE 11592) and aims to promote sustainable tourism, particularly sustainable tourism, as well as investment opportunities for Europe and China and improve air connectivity. In practice it will consist of cooperative marketing campaigns funded through public-private partnerships, business summits, and business-to-business meetings throughout the year. In this way the European Union is hoping to increase the annual number of Chinese tourists coming to EU territory by 10%, which would represent an increase of at least €1 billion a year in the European tourist sector and the conclusion of around 200 partnership agreements between Chinese and European companies. The launch ceremony will be followed by the first EU-China Tourism Business Summit. (LT)