Out of the total 4 million foreign tourists who visited Hangzhou last year, over 34,900 were from India.[Photo/Xinhua]

Tourism plays an important role in promoting mutual understanding between our two peoples and enhancing bilateral relations between China and India, said Counselor of Chinese embassy in Delhi Zhu Xiaohong on Wednesday at an event to promote tourism in China's Hangzhou city.

Speaking on the occasion, Zhu said that Hangzhou was just like heaven in China. Tourism plays an important role in promoting people to people ties, she stated.

"China-India relations is so important that our two countries could not afford to isolate one from the other. Amity between the people was the key to the good relations. Tourism plays an important role in promoting mutual understanding between our two peoples and enhancing bilateral relations between China and India," said Zhu.

There are 14 pairs of sister cities and provinces between China and India, she said, adding "we wish to encourage exchanges between cities of our two countries."

Addressing the gathering in Delhi, Hangzhou city mayor Xu Liyi said that both Delhi and Hangzhou had historical and civilizational links.

"Hangzhou is the best tourist destination in China. Out of the total 4 million foreign tourists who visited Hangzhou last year, over 34,900 were from India, which was an increase of 9.92 percent over the preceding year," he said while inviting the Indian tourists to his hometown.

According to him, Hangzhou was adjudged as one of the top 15 global tourist destinations last year, and it's the home of the world's largest e-commerce giant "Alibaba".

He told the audience about the theory how the word China originated from the Indian language of Sanskrit's word which means "silk".

"Some professionals propose that the name of China had originated from ancient India language Sanskrit word which is related to silk," he said in a bid to strike age-old commonality between India and China.

The theme of the tourism promotion event was "Memory of the silk road, most memorable is Hangzhou."

The glittering event was sponsored by Hangzhou Municipal People's government. Among those who attended it were Indians from the tourism industry, government officials from the tourism ministry, besides Chinese embassy officials.

Regional Director (North) of India Tourism Anil Oraw said that there were so many similarities between the Indian and Chinese tourism products.

"Both are fascinating destinations, both countries have cultural diversities and historical warm relations, and travelling distances are short and hence package tours could be more economical," he said.

He added that the India-China relationship was special in many ways as "our historical and civilizational links naturally bond us together."