Wei Zhaohui is the deputy Party secretary of Chongzuo and a deputy to the National People's Congress. [Photo by Jiang Xuelin/China News Service]

Detian-Ban Gioc Falls Cross-border Tourism Cooperation Zone is fully prepared for trial operation and upgrades have been made by China and Vietnam, said Wei Zhaohui, deputy Party secretary of Chongzuo and a deputy to the National People's Congress.

Chongzuo and Vietnam share a 533-kilometer border, making it China's closest road connection to an ASEAN country. 

The Detian-Ban Gioc Falls, located in Chongzuo, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous area, straddles the Chinese-Vietnamese border and is Asia's largest cross-border waterfall and the world's fourth-largest. 

The zone's construction began in 2015, and after six years of work, it is ready to go following the COVID-19 epidemic. It has already been designated as a national scenic region with a 5A rating. New tourism items, including the China-Vietnam shopping street and the cliff glass walkway, have been developed, as well as infrastructures, such as tourist inspection channels and duty-free shops.

Once operational, tourists will be able to travel in the 2-square-kilometer tourism area in both China and Vietnam in the zone with simple clearance procedures. 

Wei noted Chongzuo is confident in its tourism industry during the post-pandemic era, especially cross-border tourism. Its tourism maintained an accelerating recovery rate despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The city received 42.89 million tourists in 2021, increasing by 23.46 percent year-on-year, and tourism consumption went up by 26.24 percent year-on-year to 42.73 billion yuan ($6.76 million), both recovering to 90 percent, which is where the figures stood at in 2019. 

Wei said that both China and Vietnam are preparing for the development of cross-border tourism. Self-driving tourism will be promoted and innovative supervision models will be applied. Handling efficiency of cross-border tourism permits will be increased and online reservations for cross-border tourism will be available.