NANNING: Southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, along with the Tibet Autonomous Region, have announced that they will work together to develop Shangri-la into a world-class tourist destination.

Tourism officials from the three regions will present plans for the construction of an ecological tourism zone based on the legendary Shangri-la, which is located at the juncture of the three areas.

The officials made these comments while attending a recent Western China economic co-ordination meeting in Nanning, capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, adding that they will present a detailed project at an international tourism fair scheduled in Shanghai this November.

The ecological tourism zone based on the myth of Shangri-la will likely cover Panzhihua city, Ganzi and Liangshan prefectures, in Sichuan; Diqing, Lijiang, Nujiang and Dali prefectures of Yunnan; and the Qamdo and Nyingchi prefectures in Tibet, the officials said.

"Shangri-la," said to be a popular Tibetan word for "sun and moon in the heart," became world-renowned after British writer James Hilton published his book "Lost Horizon" in 1933.

The prototype of Shangri-la was said to be Zhongdian county in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Diqing in Yunnan Province.

The county was renamed Shangri-la in December 2001 with the approval of the State Council.

The new inter-regional co-operation is seen as a positive development in view of the previous rivalries and conflicts related to tourism development around the concept of Shangri-la.

Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet had all very much wanted the "Shangri-la" card, but have now decided to co-operate. The deal is expected to put an end to chaotic battles, experts said.

Zhang Wansheng, head of the Tibet Regional Tourism Administration, said that the primitive ecological landscape at Shangri-la has remained intact, which he described as a "world-class" tourism resource.

"We promise to carry out tourism development in Shangri-la in compliance with environmental protection and ecological conservation," said Zhang.

The three local governments have pledged to jointly invest between 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion) and 80 billion yuan (US$9.64 billion) over the next decade to develop Shangri-la.

With the overall plan for the Shangri-la ecological tourism zone in progress, the highways connecting places such as Diqing, Qamdo and Nyingchi prefectures are urgently being built.

Xinhua