NANNING, Oct. 13 -- The 2023 China-ASEAN Expo Tourism Exhibition (CAEXPOTE) kicked off in the tourist city of Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous, on Friday, highlighting new opportunities in the tourism sector.

The three-day event attracted participants from 37 countries and regions. Multiple activities, including culture and tourism forums, investment fairs and promotion conferences, are to be held during the exhibition.

This year's CAEXPOTE is themed "To meet on the beautiful land, to start together hand in hand". Seven exhibition areas with different themes have been established, including domestic tourism, cultural heritage tourism, travelling equipment and overseas tourism, among others.

China has become ASEAN's largest source of tourists and one of the favorite outbound travel destinations for ASEAN tourists, said Lu Yingchuan, deputy minister of culture and tourism of China at the opening ceremony.

“By participating in this event, we are hoping to welcome Chinese travelers back on exciting, new value-driven and action-packed itineraries to experience the best and newest of Malaysia's offerings,” said Mohd Zamri, deputy secretary general of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia, the country of honor for this year's exhibition.

The CAEXPOTE has been successfully held eight times before, and has become one of the most influential international tourism exchange platforms in China-ASEAN region.