KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — The Virtual Zhejiang Cultural and Tourism Exhibition has opened up a new chapter on bilateral exchanges in the culture and tourism sector, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

Nancy said the Covid-19 pandemic since early 2020 posed tremendous challenges but technology enabled things to be done differently and brought many changes into the field of culture.

"It has changed the way culture is mediated to the audience as well as the way culture is consumed and perceived.

"I would like to congratulate the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism for carrying out this innovative virtual event and we are delighted to connect with Zhejiang of China by such a brand-new method of tourism promotion,” she said when launching the virtual exhibition at Wisma Bernama here, today.

Also present were China’s Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing; Zhejiang Tourism Promotion Centre in South-east Asia chief representative Datuk Keith Li; Malaysia-China Insight Trilingual News chairman Datuk Seri Azman Ujang and Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datuk Mokhtar Hussain.

 Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism of China director Chu Ziyu; Singapore Tourism Board chief executive officer Keith Tan and Vietnam National Administration of Tourism vice chairman Ha Van Sieu joined the event virtually.

Nancy added that through this virtual exhibition, Malaysians will experience the beautiful landscape and splendid culture of Zhejiang.

"I believe this event will be a good start, and we expect a continuous and closer cooperation with Zhejiang of China to ensure a solid foundation for recovery post-Covid,” she said.

Nancy said China is one of the major sources of inbound tourists for Malaysia whereas Zhejiang is also one of the popular tourist destinations for Malaysians.

"Our bilateral relationship is strengthened by our people visiting each other. History has proven that the cultural exchange between Malaysia and China has contributed to the diversity of Malaysia’s unique cultural heritage that can be seen today.

"In 2020, Malaysia, through a Multi-National Nomination with China successfully inscribed the Wangkang Ceremony in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The listing is a testament of our strong cultural diplomacy with China in preserving this shared heritage,” she said. — Bernama