Asiad host city once praised by Marco Polo as "City of Heaven": Xi

HANGZHOU, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday that Hangzhou, the host city of the 19th Asian Games, was once hailed by Italian traveler Marco Polo as "the City of Heaven, the most beautiful and magnificent in the world."

Xi made the remarks at a welcoming banquet ahead of the opening ceremony of the Games in east China's Zhejiang Province.

"I worked in Zhejiang for many years," Xi said, adding that the province has advanced reform and opening up, and achieved notable progress in pursuing high-quality development.

Zhejiang is building a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity and is a pacesetter in advancing Chinese modernization, Xi added.