Forum highlights cultural heritage, mutual learning

The 2026 Beijing Culture Forum opened in the Chinese capital on Tuesday, drawing more than 600 scholars, experts, officials and representatives of cultural institutions from home and abroad to the historic city — home to eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites — to focus on cultural heritage, which they believe is the vehicle to promote mutual learning among civilizations.

With "Inheritance, Creativity, Mutual Learning" as its permanent theme, this year's two-day forum focuses on "Cultural Heritage and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations".

Participants at the forum said that President Xi Jinping has put forward the Global Civilization Initiative, actively promoted international cooperation in the field of cultural heritage, and advanced the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. All of these efforts are of great significance to the development of cultural heritage both in China and around the world, they added.

Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said in his keynote speech that preserving and making good use of cultural heritage is both an inherent requirement for the continuation of human civilization and sustainable global development.

Li called on countries to strengthen cooperation on cultural heritage, expand multilateral mechanisms and implement a global partnership program for cultural heritage.

According to Li, China has established the central committee for the protection of cultural heritage, and its 15th Five-Year (2026-30) Plan for the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage will soon be issued.

Yin Li, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, said that cultural heritage is the unique imprint of civilization for each country and is also a valuable treasure shared by all humanity. "Eastern and Western civilizations, while distinct, coexist beautifully and together have contributed to the development of human society," Yin said.

Nayef H. Al-Fayez, UNESCO's assistant director-general for culture, said via a video address that UNESCO values its cooperation with China and the contribution this partnership has made to heritage conservation, capacity building and cultural exchange.

He said the forum discusses questions that are "critical as we continue advancing the recognition of culture as a global public good and a pillar of sustainable development".

Over the past decade, China has made major achievements in the field of cultural heritage protection. Rao Quan, director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said at the forum that after the fourth national cultural relics census, the number of immovable cultural relics in China is expected to exceed 900,000.

Rao added that over the past five years, more than 7,700 archaeological projects have been approved and carried out, and the number of national archaeological site parks has risen to 65.

According to him, joint archaeological projects between China and other countries have been actively carried out over the past five years, with 49 archaeological projects involving 28 countries and regions implemented.

Wang Wei, director of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said China's archaeological and cultural heritage protection teams have stepped up efforts to go global, carrying out collaborative archaeological excavations and cultural heritage protection in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

"Only by sharing work experience and learning from each other through joint archaeology and cultural heritage protection can we bring the fruits of civilization to more countries," Wang said.

Jad Tabet, honorary president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, Lebanon, said that "we are standing at a crossroads, with climate change, war and conflict and large-scale population displacement being significant challenges affecting cultural and natural heritage".

"A site lost anywhere is a loss felt, and its protection cannot be entrusted to any one actor alone. This is where the theme chosen for this forum speaks directly to our purpose: Mutual learning among civilizations has always been how heritage was protected and carried forward," he said.