Hangzhou to host ninth world leisure conference

Hangzhou to host ninth world leisure conference

The Ninth World Leisure Conference and the World Leisure Exposition will be held in October 2006 in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

An official with the Hangzhou city government said that according to the memorandum signed with the World Leisure Organization, the theme of the conference would be "Leisure -- Changing Life styles".

The World Leisure Organization, founded in 1952, is a global non-governmental association.

Experts from the organization predict that around the year 2015,developed countries will enter a "leisure era", followed by advanced developing countries, and China will become the world's strongest tourism country in 2020.

Since the first conference was held in Canada in 1988, the World Leisure Organization has held seven conferences.

Four months before the conference, the host city will hold a 180-day World Leisure Exposition.