2025 Nanjing Forum on Yangtze River Culture

Xin Changxing Fu Hua Liu Dongshun attended and delivered a speech.

On November 21, 2025 Nanjing Forum on Yangtze River Culture was held. Xin Changxing, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Fu Hua, President of Xinhua News Agency, and Liu Dongshun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, attended the main forum and delivered speeches. UNESCO Assistant Director-General Lidia Brito video message.

Xin Changxing, on behalf of the provincial party committee and provincial government, welcomed all the guests to the forum. He said that the world's great rivers are often not only geographical coordinates, but also the cradle of civilization. The Yangtze River is the representative symbol of the Chinese nation and the iconic symbol of Chinese civilization, the Yangtze River flows to Jiangsu, with an open and relaxed attitude of the river, the Yellow Sea, laid the geographical shape of Jiangsu, shaped the economic pulse of Jiangsu, casting the cultural soul of Jiangsu. The Yangtze River culture was, is, and will be our most cherished and valuable spiritual wealth. We will deeply study and implement the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and protecting, inheriting and carrying forward the Yangtze River culture, deepen exchanges and cooperation with countries and regions in the global large river basins, and enhance the wisdom of protecting and inheriting the culture, build a consensus on green development, and stimulate the kinetic energy of opening up and innovation in mutual learning, so as to contribute more strength to the implementation of the Global Initiative for Civilization and the building of a community of human destiny. We will contribute more to the implementation of the global civilization initiative and the building of a community of human destiny.

Fu Hua pointed out that General Secretary Xi Jinping has always been concerned about the Yangtze River, and has made a series of important instructions on promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and protecting, inheriting and carrying forward the culture of the Yangtze River, which include profound thoughts on the inheritance of history and culture, as well as strategic drawings on the innovative development of culture; they both point out the direction of the continuation of the Chinese cultural lineage and contribute to the wisdom of the development of human civilization. The Yangtze River culture is eclectic and all-encompassing, and has become an important carrier for promoting mutual understanding of civilizations, providing valuable spiritual wealth for building a community of human destiny. Xinhua News Agency will take this forum as an opportunity to work with all parties to continue to tell the story of the Yangtze River in the new era, to tell the story of Jiangsu's implementation of the "River Strategy" and the promotion of high-quality development, to vigorously study and carry forward the culture of the Yangtze River, and to use the Yangtze River as a medium to promote humanistic exchanges among different countries and regions, so as to make the Yangtze River culture better known to the world and move forward into the future. The Yangtze River Culture Center will also promote humanistic exchanges between different countries and regions through the Yangtze River as a medium, so that the culture of the Yangtze River can better reach the world and the future.

Liu Dongshun pointed out that the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee put forward new tasks and requirements for the protection and governance of rivers. The Ministry of Water Resources will earnestly practice General Secretary Xi Jinping's "water conservation priority, spatial balance, systematic governance, two-handed force" water management ideas and the spirit of the important discourse on water management, to promote the management of water disasters, water resources, water ecology, water environment, inheritance and carry forward the culture of water, and improve the system of protection and governance of the river, the construction of a safe river, the river of life, happy rivers, forming a river protection and governance pattern in which rivers feed the people, the people guard the rivers, and people and water coexist harmoniously.

Lidia Brito said that rivers shape human civilization and are living archives that carry history, memory and creativity. China's continuous promotion of ecological protection of the Yangtze River is an excellent example of the synergy of science, policy and culture in restoring ecological balance. We are willing to work with all parties to make the river better nourish nature and moisten the soul, and help global sustainable development. Acting Mayor of Nanjing Li Zhongjun said that Nanjing will integrate into the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the construction of the "One Belt, One Road" with an open attitude, and will strengthen exchanges and cooperation with all of you on guarding historical and cultural heritage, empowering green development of cities, and stimulating the vitality of the Yangtze River culture, so as to jointly inject civilization power for sustainable development.

Keynote speeches were delivered by Xia Zehan, Director of UNESCO's Multi-Sectoral Regional Office for East Asia; Yang Guishan, Secretary of the Party Committee of Hohai University; Mohammed Hegaji, Director of the Regional Office for North Africa of the World Urban Land Organization; and Chen Tongbin, Chief Expert of the China Construction Science and Technology Group.

The theme of this forum is "Mutual Learning of the Rivers and the Future of Ning Gathering". At the forum, the "An Lan Xing Bang Benefiting the People - A Strategic Study on Rivers in the New Era" and the "From Yangtze River to Ocean" Aquatic Life Protection Action Plan were released, and the publication project of the "Ancient Rivers - The Great Lineage of the Yangtze River" was launched. The publication project of "The Cultural Lineage of the Yangtze River" was launched.

Provincial leaders Chu Yonghong and Xu Ying, and Ren Weidong, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, attended the main forum. Representatives of some international organizations, international think tanks of "Belt and Road", international news agencies and mainstream media of the countries in the Great River Basin, mayors of world cities, government officials of some countries and representatives of embassies and consulates in China, well-known cultural experts and scholars attended the event.