Gansu reaches 45 bn yuan deals at culture expo

Visitors ask about African ornaments. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]

Gansu province, in Northwest China, attracted 113 contracts with 45.35 billion yuan ($7.17 billion) of investments at The 4th International Culture Industry Conference & 8th Gansu Culture Expo in Dunhuang, Gansu, on Oct 15.

The contracts cover tourism, film and television. Ten of them are worth more than 1 billion yuan, including a 5 billion yuan contract for Yumen city's Lotus Mountain.

Actresses perform in front of Jiuquan city’s exhibition area, at the 8th Gansu Culture Expo in Dunhuang city, Gansu on Oct 15. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]

At the expo's project promotion meeting, Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, introduced 105 cultural projects aiming to attract 200 billion yuan, including a 3.2b yuan ecological area in Renshou Mountain. The new projects are expected to compose a distinctive cultural system, according to the city's government.

Gansu has seen rapid culture development in recent years, said Lian Ji, director of the Provincial Publicity Department, at the promotion meeting.

African ornaments attracted visitors at The 4th International Culture Industry Conference & 8th Gansu Culture Expo in Dunhuang, Gansu on Oct 15. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]

Lian said that revenue and employment from tourism grew more than 27 percent in the first half of this year, while tourism employment nationwide grew nine percent and revenue 13 percent. "The growth rates of the two indices were much higher in Gansu destinations, like Dunhuang, which showed 40 percent on average of the two growth rates," he added.

Edited by Andrew Ancheta