Officials greet over 200 bicycle enthusiasts to start their low-carbon journeys at the opening ceremony of "Low-carbon Tourism Starts from Northeast Asia" in Jiaozuo, central China's Henan Province on Oct.24, 2010. [China.com.cn]

“The development of low-carbon economy is an inevitable choice for all of the countries in the world,” said Fan Xiufang, director of Henan Province Tourism Administration, “The development of low-carbon tourism is the inevitable trend of tourist industry. We should make efforts to exploit tourist resources, to forge low-carbon tourist products, to carry out tourist management, to implement tourist administration and to promote low-carbon tourist consumption.”

The Association of Northeast Asia Regional Governments was established in Gyeongsangbuk-Do, South Korea in September 1996. Its aim is to promote active and smooth interaction and cooperation among various districts in the Northeast Asia Region. Presently, the association is a coalition of 69 local governments, such as Heilongjiang, Shandong, Henan, Hubei and Hunan Provinces and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region., across 6 of Northeast Asia’s countries (China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia and Russia). The association is made up of 9 special committees: Secretary General, Economic/Trade, Environment, Cultural Interchange, Disaster Prevention, Border Issue, General Interchange, Science/Technology, Fishery and Tourism. The Tourism Committee was established in August 2009.