Yesterday afternoon, Yin Yong, Mayor of Beijing, met with Jose Luis Sanz, Mayor of Seville, Spain, who led a delegation to Beijing for the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (2023 CIFTIS).

During the meeting, Mayor Yin highlighted President Xi Jinping's commitment to a more open and inclusive environment for development and greater opening up of tourism and other service sectors, as expressed in the President's video message to the Global Trade in Services Summit of 2023 CIFTIS. CIFTIS is a national-level, international, comprehensive, and large-scale exhibition and a trade platform built for services trade. Beijing, as China's only Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector, will carry out more pilot reform policies to open up the service sector. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain. As both cities are famous for their history and culture and are world-renowned tourist destinations, Beijing and Seville have great prospects for cooperation in the services sector such as culture and tourism. Relying on platforms like CIFTIS and the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), Beijing stands ready to forge closer ties with Seville and advance bilateral relations by deepening cooperation in areas such as culture, tourism, and smart city development, and facilitating people-to-people exchanges.

Mayor Sanz praised Beijing's achievements in urban construction and management, and was impressed by the city's diverse and inclusive culture with unique historical and contemporary features. Seville prioritizes culture and tourism, and is willing to expand people-to-people exchanges with Beijing, support bilateral tourism promotion, learn from each other's experience in urban management, and further cooperation in fields such as culture, tourism, arts, and exhibitions.

Sima Hong, Vice Mayor of Beijing, and Mu Peng, Secretary General of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, attended the meeting.