Mr HU Heping
Minister of Culture and Tourism, People's Republic of China

Honorable Ministers,
Director Yeung Yun-hung,
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

In this beautiful and fragrant season of bauhinia flowers, it is my great pleasure to join all of you for the 2022 Asia Cultural Cooperation Forum (ACCF). On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations on this event, and my cordial greetings to all our guests, colleagues and friends from all walks of life.

Asian countries are closely connected and share a natural bond of affinity. For several millennia, our ancestors lived on this continent. Inspired by their daily work and cultural exchanges, they built profound and rich civilizations, which took a special place in the progress of world civilizations. In recent years, especially since the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations in 2019, Asian countries have put Beijing Consensus into practice, and promoted intercultural dialogue and cooperation despite challenges such as those posed by Covid-19. We have made remarkable achievements in harnessing the power of culture for socioeconomic benefits and the enhancement of people-to-people connectivity.

Initiated by the government of the Hong Kong SAR of China nearly 20 years ago, ACCF aims to mainstream Asia in global cultural development agenda by concentrating on key issues in global and Asian cultural sector, and supporting discussions on topics of high importance in well-organized arenas. It has become a fine example of how Asian countries carry out cultural cooperation and dialogue based on mutual trust, and an acclaimed platform for these countries to share cultural policies, strategies and visions. This year, we are glad to learn that the ACCF focuses on the highly relevant theme of "cultural exchanges", and we believe it will help build consensus and pool wisdom for cultural development in the years to come.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Right now, the profound changes we face, on a scale unseen in a century, and the raging Covid-19 pandemic are interlinked. Changes of the world, of our times and of history are unfolding in ways like never before. The world is entering a new period of volatility and transformation, but we still have hope to find strategic opportunity for development. To promote peace, stability, common prosperity, openness and connectivity in Asia and across the world, we need to recognize the unique role of culture and intercultural dialogue in developing understanding, building friendship and fostering the sense of common purpose.

The recent 20th CPC National Congress developed well-conceived and complete strategic plans to build a modern socialist country in all respects, and proposed promoting national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization. The meeting's report identifies culture as a priority area, and mentioned important plans including further developing cultural programs and the cultural sector, as well as deepening exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations.

According to Chinese President Xi Jinping, exchanges and mutual learning across cultures form an important drive for human progress and global peace and development. The right path for the development of human civilization is mutual respect, solidarity, and harmonious coexistence. China is ready to work with the global community to champion equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness between civilizations.

Such statements reaffirm China's unswerving commitment to deepening reform and opening-up, and sharing cultural development fruits with other countries. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China will join all of you to respect cultural diversity in Asia, learn from each other, and promote amity and understanding among Asian peoples to write a new chapter of connectivity. If we appreciate and celebrate rich, diverse and thriving Asian cultures together, we can further increase the presence of Asia in global cultural scene. In this regard, I would like to propose as follows.

First, we must strengthen policy coordination. China has built 10-plus multilateral ministerial-level dialogue mechanisms and signed more than 40 cooperation agreements with other Asian countries in the fields of culture and tourism. We will build on such mechanisms and instruments to strengthen policy coordination and cooperation with other Asian countries to jointly safeguard and celebrate the Asian values of openness and inclusiveness.

Second, we must continue to carry out cooperation projects. If we keep pursuing win-win results and investing in key projects, we can better expand, upgrade and increase the productivity of our cultural cooperation. At the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forth plans and initiatives to promote tourism, translate Asian classics both into and from Chinese, promote film and TV exchanges and cooperation and protect cultural heritage in Asia. China will work with all of you to promote practical cooperation in the above-mentioned areas and add more substance to intercultural dialogue across Asia.

Third, we will launch the Silk Road of Culture initiative. Together with many Belt and Road countries, including those in Asia, China has established several networking mechanisms for the benefit of Asian cultural and art exchanges, including the Silk Road International League of Theaters, Silk Road International Museum Alliance, Network of Silk Road Arts Festivals, Silk Road International Library Alliance and Silk Road International Alliance of Art Museums and Galleries. Building on our past success, China plans to launch the Silk Road of Culture initiative, which will cover various areas including music, fine arts, performing arts, library and cultural heritage. We will also organize major conventions such as the Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo and Liangzhu Forum to enrich and add more dimensions to our international cultural dialogue.

Fourth, we must explore new cooperation opportunities. In today's world, technology is becoming more and more important and prevalent in all aspects of the cultural sector. Digital cultural goods show great potential as an economic driver. China is ready to work with other Asian countries to share the best practices of supporting new business models in the digital era, better harness IT, internet-based and smart technologies, accelerate technology and knowledge transfer, and narrow digital divide, all on the basis of mutual complementarity. As Asia is endowed with abundant cultural resources, we hope to add more value to our culture-related products and industries with the help of digital technology. In this area, there are many new cooperation opportunities to explore.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. Over the past 25 years, the success of "one country, two systems" has won recognition throughout the world. Looking ahead, Hong Kong's distinctive status and advantages will be maintained, and its popularity as a global cultural hub and tourist destination will further grow. We hope that with its close connection with Asian countries and regions, and as open and diverse place that blends Chinese and Western cultures, Hong Kong will continue to present such visible and inspirational cultural and tourism events as the ACCF, so as to contribute to the growth of Asia's cultural sector, as well as to a more closely-knit community of shared future for Asia and the mankind.

I wish the 2022 ACCF a grand success. Thank you.