Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (8th, L) attends the launching ceremony of China's first National Tourism Day, which is co-organized by the National Tourism Administration and the Beijing municipal government, at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, capital of China, May 19, 2011. [Xinhua/Zhang Yu]

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan on Thursday said China's National Tourism Day is a timely event, especially when China is experiencing a golden period of tourism as people's lives have improved after some 30 years of reforms and opening-up.

China's National Tourism Day will boost development of the tourism sector, said Wang at the inauguration ceremony jointly held here by the National Tourism Administration and the Beijing municipal government.

With its long history and beautiful mountains and rivers, China abounds in natural and cultural tourism resources and the tourism sector is experiencing a golden period as people's lives are improving, along with the quickening economic development in China after some 30 years of reforms and opening-up, Wang said.

Accelerating tourism development will boost the economic growth mode transformation and restructuring and it will also help expand employment and improve people's lives, Wang said.

Activities planned around China's National Tourism Day should be carried out in a lasting and in-depth way, as it provides a chance to call upon various groups in society to support tourism growth, Wang said.

Various activities were held across the country on Thursday to usher in China's first National Tourism Day.

The government decided to set China's National Tourism Day for May 19 each year, the date when Xu Xiake began writing his famous travel books.

Nearly 400 years earlier, Xu Xiake, dubbed the Saint of Travel during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), began his 30 years of travel through the country and penned his masterpiece, "Travel Notes of Xu Xiake," which detailed a well-defined sights in the country.