Former CNTA Chairman Li Jinzao appointed as Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Following the merging of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and the Ministry of Culture into a new Ministry of Culture and Tourism in March 2018, the CNTA’s former Chairman Li Jinzao has been appointed as Vice Minister of the newly-created ministry.

Li, who had worked to further the agenda of Chinese outbound tourism on the national level in his capacity as Chairman of the CNTA since 2014, also serves a leading role in the Beijing-based World Tourism Alliance (WTA), which he founded in September 2017.

The shake-up of the CNTA was part of a wider restructuring of government in Beijing, announced at the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress, which is intended to improve the efficiency and structure of the national bureaucratic apparatus.

In addition to the forming of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the development saw the establishment of a further six ministries and other commissions, including the: Ministry of Emergency Management, Ministry of Veterans Affairs, Ministry of Ecological Environment, National Health Commission, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The upgrade of tourism to ministry-level status within the wider field of promotion of culture has cemented the importance of outbound travel in the eyes of the Beijing government as a key tool in its global soft power strategy.

Source: China News Service

Image: Chinese flag by edward stojakovic. Source: Flickr Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)