Themed “Safeguarding the Diversity of Human Civilisations for World Peace and Development”, the two-day meeting brought together over 600 delegates from around 140 countries and territories, representing the fields of politics, culture, and education.

In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, emphasised that as the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century, the voices of people around the globe calling for peace, development, and cooperation are growing stronger.

However, the rhetoric of “cultural estrangement,” “clash of civilisations,” and “cultural superiority” continues to resurface, underscoring ongoing challenges in preserving cultural diversity and promoting global peace and development, said Cai, who is also a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.

Facing this new historical crossroads, Cai stressed the need for countries and territories to jointly explore diverse development paths and continuously enrich the forms of human civilisation. He also underlined the importance of jointly strengthening cultural heritage and innovation, actively promoting the protection of cultural legacies, and advancing cultural development initiatives.

On the sidelines of the conference, Deputy Minister Phong held a meeting with Gao Zheng, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism of China during which, the two sides reviewed recent achievements in bilateral cooperation and discussed future directions. They agreed to closely coordinate efforts to implement the common perceptions reached by the leaders of both Parties and countries.

They concurred to establish a joint mechanism to promote bilateral tourism cooperation, with a near-term focus on contributing to and building the Lancang–Mekong Tourist Cities Cooperation Alliance, aiming to strengthen tourism collaboration among Mekong–Lancang countries.

Appreciating the positive outcomes in cultural and tourism exchanges between the two countries, Phong proposed several priority actions for the time ahead. These include the effective implementation of the Vietnam–China Culture, Sports and Tourism Cooperation Plan for 2023–2027, and advancing the Memorandum of Understanding on cultural industry cooperation signed between the two ministries.

He also recommended maintaining and enhancing the effectiveness of the annual ministerial meeting mechanism, and called on China to support and coordinate the organisation of Vietnam Cultural Week in Chongqing and Beijing this October on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and China and the “Year of Vietnam–China Humanistic Exchange.”

Regarding to tourism, Deputy Minister Phong proposed the continued implementation of existing bilateral agreements. He called for joint efforts in implementing the agreement on cooperation in protecting and exploiting the tourism resource of the Ban Gioc–Detian Waterfall.

For his part, Vice Minister Gao Zheng pledged to work closely with the Vietnamese side to elevate bilateral cultural and tourism relations in line with the common understandings reached by the two countries’ high-ranking leaders.

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