A city in Zhejiang province that played a key role in China's revolutionary history nearly a century ago is striving to become a model must-see site among "red tourism" attractions.

A ceremony was held on Thursday in Jiaxing to promote red tourism in the Nanhu area, where the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in 1921.

Red tourism sites have seen growing in popularity as the National Development and Reform Commission has encouraged efforts to preserve revolutionary sites. It released a list of red tourism sites in 2015.

Co-hosted by the Zhejiang Tourism Administration and the Jiaxing government, the ceremony in Nanhu attracted over 1,600 tourism professionals as well as representatives from red tourism attractions nationwide.

Last year, tourists from home and abroad visited Jiaxing 92.14 million times, with tourism revenue reaching 102.61 billion yuan ($15.43 billion). The entire tourism sector contributed 7.24 percent to the city's GDP.

Li Haoyi contributed to this story.