A high-ranking Japanese official has pledged to bring more Japanese tourists to southwest China's Guizhou Province.

"We will try our best to let people in Japan know more about this beautiful land," said Maruyama Hiroshi, vice minister for Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport when meeting with Wang Fuyu, Deputy Party Secretary of Guizhou Province.

The vice minister, also head of a Japanese tourism development delegation to Guizhou, said that a group of tourism developers from Guizhou went to Japan for promotion of local tourist products last year, and their presentation impressed their Japanese peers with pictures of gorgeous landscapes and the unique flavor of various ethnic minorities.

Wang said the province has built an international airport and five airports scattered in the scenic areas over recent years in bid to back up tourism development.

"Guizhou has abundant resources of power, energy and labor forces," acknowledged Wang, saying that "the two countries may look to cooperate in these fields."

Invited by China National Tourism Administration, the 71-member delegation of Japanese tourism developers who come from big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka began their six-day visit to the province on Friday.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2006)