ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 17 -- An international mayor's alliance of tourism cities has been founded in central China's Zhengzhou city to promote cooperation and exchange.

Mayors and representatives from 63 cities in 24 countries as well as 37 Chinese cities signed the convention on Sunday during the International Mayor's Forum on tourism in the capital of Henan Province.

According to the document, improved exchange and cooperation mechanisms among cities concerned should enable expansion in tourism. It also calls for the application of science and technology in urban development to ensure tourists enjoy high quality experiences and a standardized legal system for the urban tourism environment to promote civilized travel.

Under the theme of "Tourism, Soft Power of City Development", the event was jointly sponsored by the World Tourism Organization, China's National Tourism Administration and the Henan provincial government.

The three-day forum, which ended Monday, also witnessed the signing of contracts involving 60 key tourism investment and financing programs worth 100 billion yuan (16.3 billion U.S. dollars).

The event has been held in Zhengzhou every two years since 2008. With rich tourism resources such as ancient capitals Luoyang and Kaifeng, Henan hosted 410 million domestic and overseas tourists last year.

In 2013, the number of global tourists reached nearly 1.1 billion, with consumption exceeding 1 trillion U.S. dollars, or 9 percent of the world's GDP, according to Wu Wenxue, deputy head of China National Tourism Administration.