China's tourist trade associations have grown along with the in-depth development of national economical restructuring and the rapid progress of tourism. Initiated in the beginning of 1985 and after preparations, the China Tourism Association and the China Tourist Hotel Association were formally established in January and February 1986. The former is a national travel trade organization, a social body composed of tourism departments, departments closely related to tourism as well as tourism oriented experts and scholars. The latter is a national organization of the tourist hotel trade with hotels and guest houses as the main components.

Following the policy of reform and opening to the outside world, the travel trade associations carry out surveys and studies, co-ordination and consultant, international liaison and other activities to provide service for the enhancement of State macro-management and the vitalization of tourism enterprises, meanwhile playing the role of a bridge or channel between tourism administrative departments of the government and tourism enterprise for the promotion of sustained and healthy progress of tourism.

With the intensified reform of tourism management system and the vigorous development of tourism, both domestic and international, the formation and role of the trade associations have increasingly drawn the attention of all the departments concerned and various localities. Specialized trade associations such as the China Tourism Automobiles and Cruise Ships Association, the Association China Tourism Journalese and the China Domestic Tourism Association were successively set up in recent years. According to statistics, there are 26 tourism associations, 13 tourist hotel associations and 4 domestic tourism

associations at the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal levels across the country. In the current reform and opening up, the local travel trade associations, in line with actual conditions, have done a great deal and played their due role in service of the government and the grassroots.

Tourism opens window to the outside world. As non-governmental social organizations, the travel trade associations have in recent years conducted friendly exchanges and swapped experience with their overseas counterparts to increase understanding and expand influence. The China Tourism Association, the China Tourist Hotel Association and the China Tourism Automobiles and Cruise Ships Association have joined the Universal Federation of Travel Agents Associations, the International Hotel Association and the International Touring Alliance respectfully. The China Tourism Association and the Taiwan Tourism Association have responsored a symposium on tourism across the Taiwan Straits, thus to affect two way exchanges between tourism circles on both sides and promote their cooperation.

Tourism being a comprehensive and international undertaking with inter-trade, trans-regional and trans-sector features, the formation of national and regional tourist trade associations to bring into play their liaison role can facilitate inter flow between counterparts, communication between top and bottom as well at integration of domestic tourism with international tourism. All this will help to unite, organize and rally forces from different quarters concerned, push the development of China's tourism in a faster and better way, and contribute consistently to the socialist modernization of the country.