Abstract: Tourism is a common project concerned with people's hearts and minds. It takes great advantages in the construction of
"the Belt and Road". The southern Silk Road is an important link between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The development of the
tourism culture belt along the southern Silk Road will help reduce poverty and develop the tourism culture in the countries and regions
along the route. The friendly city mechanism is an important way for local governments to carry out urban diplomacy, and is an
important foundation and guarantee for economic and cultural exchanges between China and other countries and regions along the road.
At present, China and the countries and regions along the Silk Road in the south have a low level of construction of friendly cities, a
single mode of cooperation, insufficient interaction, and the need for institutional innovation. To improve the ability of intercity
interaction and economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation between cities along the southern Silk Road more efforts should be
put to establish a multi-level system of friendly urban cooperation, expand the depth and breadth of urban cooperation and expand the
space for urban cooperation.

Key words: the southern Silk Road, friendly cities, tourism cooperation, mechanism innovation