On the morning of April 16, the Beijing · Pinggu 2020 World Leisure Congress opened at Beijing Jinhai Lake International Convention and Exhibition Center in Pinggu District. Cai Qi, Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, announced the opening of the congress. Hu Heping, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Minister of Culture and Tourism, and Chen Jining, Deputy Secretary of CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Mayor of Beijing, delivered speeches.

In his speech, Hu Heping expressed the most sincere welcome to delegates from all walks of life, saying that the World Leisure Congress can serve as a platform for mutual exchange and learning among countries around the world, improve the development of Beijing's tourism and leisure industry, and build Beijing into a leisure capital and a city of charm witha higher standard, higher level and with better quality. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will strictly implement the guidelines of the 14th Five-Year Plan; adhere to culture-oriented, innovation-driven, quality-first, and people-serving principles, aim for top-level design; guide people to recognize the value of leisure, and promote active, healthy, civilized leisure activities; enrich product formats; create leisure brands with traditional heritage, cultural connotation, Chinese characteristics, and global influence; and promote technology empowerment and makeleisure industrymore digital, internet-based and smart. He said that the ministry will strive to make tourism and leisure a happiness industry which meets people's demand for a better life, a sunrise industry which implements the new development concept and helps build a new development pattern, and a comprehensive industry that promotes the integration of culture and tourism and drives the development of multiple industries.

Chen Jining said in his speech that in recent years, Beijing has been practicing the new development concept, striving to build Beijing into a world-class metropolis that is harmonious and livable, focusing on cultivating the leisure environment, developing leisure industries and carrying out leisure services, further improving the quality of urban life, and gradually displaying the characteristics of a city with nature and humanity coexisting harmoniously, urban and suburban areas enhancing each other, and prosperity and tranquility blending with each other. Beijing will carry out Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization by implementing the green development concept of giving priority to ecology, fulfilling the development strategy of "Green Beijing", and striving to paint a beautiful picture of bluer sky, greener mountains and clearer water. He said that we will promote healthy lifestyles and make good use of the World Leisure Congress as a platform to share the most cutting-edge and scientific leisure concepts with the rest of the world for the betterment of people around the world. He added that we should promote the development of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone. On the basis of opening up to the outside world at a higher level, we will strongly support the development and international cooperation of the leisure industry, and provide more colorful leisure products and services.

Before the opening ceremony, Cai Qi, Hu Heping, Chen Jining and other leaders of central government departments and municipal-level leaders visited the World Leisure Congress exhibition and came to the exhibition areas like the first International Leisure Lifestyle Case Award, China International Mind Games Challenge, Enjoy Life----Cultural Tourism in Pinggu, Peach Garden House----Pinggu Special B&B, CYTS Tours Holdings, Huawei, etc. to inspect the leisure tourism and leisure culture products exhibition.

With the theme of "Leisure Makes Life Better", this year's congress will be held in an interactive mode online and offline. There would be one main session, 14 parallel sessions, the China (Beijing) International Leisure Industry Exposition, and 9 special leisure activities, which are to show the world a leisure gala with international vision, Chinese culture, Beijing heritage and Pinggu specialty.

Joanne Schroeder, Chair of the World Leisure Organization, delivered a video speech. Other municipal leaders attending the ceremony included Zhang Jiaming and Wang Hong.

(Article by Qi Mengzhu & Fan Junsheng  Photo by Dai Bing)