WTA Chairman ZHANG Xu Attends “Affection for the Canal • Melodies of Jiangnan” – The 5th Grand Canal Folk and Ethnic Culture Exchange & Exhibition Week and the 2025 Suzhou Shishan Market Art Season

From October 14 to 15, the 5th Grand Canal Folk and Ethnic Culture Exchange & Exhibition Week and the 2025 Suzhou Shishan Market Art Season was held in Suzhou, under the theme "Affection for the Canal • Melodies of Jiangnan". Mr. ZHANG Xu, Chairman of the World Tourism Alliance (WTA), was invited to attend the event. The opening ceremony featured addresses by YANG Bin, Member of the Working Committee of the Suzhou New & Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone (SND) of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee and Director of the Publicity Department, and LI Hong, President of the China Mass Culture Association. ZHANG Xu, along with LI Hong, Luo Yunchuan (Deputy Director of the National Center for Public Cultural Development at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism ), JI Jing (Vice Mayor of the Suzhou Municipal People’s Government), and YU Yu (Secretary of the Working Committee of the Suzhou SND of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee), jointly took the stage to inaugurate the event.

This event was jointly organized by the National Center for Public Cultural Development at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the China Mass Culture Association, and the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, among other units, with the WTA served as the special supporting unit.

As one of the first national "Mass Cultural Activity Brand" case studies, the event has been successfully held in Suzhou for four consecutive sessions. It featured 125 highly distinctive regional programs recommended by eight provinces and municipalities along the Grand Canal, alongside 19 online and offline exhibition performances. The offline events have attracted a live audience of 100,000, while online broadcasts have garnered over 5 million views. The event serves as a window that showcases the rich culture of the Grand Canal and the charm of Jiangnan culture while creating a platform for the exchange and innovation of folk and ethnic culture and the high-quality development of public cultural services.