The Shanghai Bus & Coach Forum, staged by the IRU, Busworld, UITP and CRTA, highlights the huge opportunities in rapidly growing market for collective passenger transport by road in China, as well the massive potential offered by the growing number of Chinese tourists visiting other countries.

The International Bus & Coach Forum took place in Shanghai, China, on 16 March 2005, The event, staged by the IRU, in conjunction with Busworld, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the IRU's Chinese Member Association, the China Road Transport Association (CRTA), attracted some three hundred delegates from across Asia, Australia and Europe, as well as China itself.

IRU President Paul Laeremans said:"China's dynamic development and huge population make it a very exciting market for companies supplying passenger transport services. The lifting of formal restrictions on foreign travel by Chinese citizens creates another huge market: the provision of tour packages and transport services for Chinese tourists who are visiting other countries and continents in ever-increasing numbers. Good Chinese contacts are essential for foreign companies hoping to break into these lucrative markets, hence the value of this International Bus & Coach Forum in Shanghai."

The Forum adopted a Declaration urging governments to undertake a range of measures to promote efficient collective passenger transport, including incentives for increased bus and coach travel, investment in public transport networks, fair competition in provision of transports services, facilitation of passport and visa issuance, implementation of international agreements on technical standards, reduction in the fiscal burden on the sector and fair, transparent rules on establishment of transport companies.