The Extended 44th Session of World Heritage Committee opened on July 16 in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province. Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, also a member of Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, read the congratulatory letter by President Xi Jinping and delivered an address.

Sun Chunlan pointed out that the congratulatory letter by President Xi Jinping added new confidence and impetus for us to strengthening exchanges and cooperation in field of world heritage and building a community with a shared future for humanity. In recent years, following the ideas of ‘Clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets’ and ‘Cultural heritage protection is in the interests of current and future generations’, by combining heritage protection with cultural industries, ecological development, and especially poverty alleviation, China has seen continuous progress in this cause. China is developing a nature reserves system composed mainly of national parks, and combating crimes involving cultural relics, aiming at preserving rich cultural and natural heritage for all mankind.

World heritage is common treasures of humanity, and that the implementation of ‘Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage’ demands global cooperation. China stands ready to take international responsibility through concrete actions. It is willing to work with UNESCO to build educational platforms for world heritage to help cultivate heritage protection skills for developing countries. In contribution to global heritage protection, especially the capacity building for heritage protection in developing countries, China will also support UNESCO in implementing the Priority Africa strategy in terms of world heritage, Sun emphasized.

During her stay in Fuzhou, Sun Chunlan visited an exhibition themed ‘World Heritage in China’, and attended the World Heritage Woodland Tree Planting Activity. She requested that the session of the World Heritage Conference be used as an opportunity to strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, and to fully demonstrate China’s historic achievements in protecting cultural and natural heritage, with a view to making world heritage a bridge of dialogue between civilizations.

Source: Xinhua News, Fuzhou, July 17th