Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen headed a delegation of senior government officials and corporate bosses in a trip to southwest China's Sichuan Province, in an effort to promote bilateral trade and tourism. CGTN's Liu Yang reports.

The first cargo train from Chengdu to Vienna, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen says by opening this railway line, the journey from Chengdu to Vienna by train will be several weeks shorter than transporting by sea. This cargo train will be in Vienna in 13 days. There are 41 carriages, full of goods including LED screens, daily necessities, and tires.

ANDREAS MATTHA, CEO OBB HOILDING AG "Chengdu is a beautiful city, Vienna is a beautiful city, both cities have strong economies, therefore, the train is a symbol for the partnerships for the two countries."

Qingcheng Mountain is one of the birthplaces of Taoism in China. The Austrian delegation arrived here and received a special welcoming ceremony. Jianfu Palace was founded in the Tang Dynasty. A member of the delegation said the first step to promoting ties between the two countries is to understand each other's people and culture.

LIU YANG SICHUAN "In recent years, tourism has become a pivotal part for the two countries bilateral cooperation. China and Austria are both rich and complementary to each other in tourism resources, In 2017, over 67,000 Austrians visited China, an increase of 2.5 percent year-on-year."

China's cooperation with Austria on giant panda research started in 2003. For the past 15 years, the two sides have worked on panda breeding, disease control, feeding management, and the promotion of science education. At the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, the Austrian delegation came to see the giant panda Fu Bao, which means Lucky Leopard. Fu Bao was born in 2013 in a zoo in Vienna. The bear was brought to China in 2015.

ARNOLD OBERMAYR, COUNSELLOR (CULTURAL AFFAIRS) AUSTRIAN EMBASSY IN BEIJING "Of course, everybody loves giant pandas, look at this giant pandas, and also as you know, in the zoo in Vienna we have a giant panda was a gift from China. Well, just look around we really love the giant pandas."

ELISABETH NOSTLINGER-JOCHUM, HOST AUSTRIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION "They somehow look like babies, they would somehow climb up on the tree, to cuddle with them, because they really very nice."

In the Tianfu New Area, an inland open economic highland, the Austrian delegation listened carefully about the area's current development plan.

LIU YANG SICHUAN "These whole area will attract both international and domestic enterprises. This includes of that strategic emerging industries and modern manufacturing. Austria is the country with an economy heavily reliant on exports. China's west is certainly a huge market it's focusing on."

In 2017, Austrian opened nine new enterprises in Sichuan. In the same year, trade volume between China and Austria rose by 15.5 percent. There's more cooperation on the horizon for both sides. Liu Yang, CGTN, Sichuan Province.