​Think tank, platforms to promote Culture City of East Asia

The Think Tank for East Asian Cultural Studies and three platforms for East Asian cultural exchanges were established in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province on Jan 2 in an effort to promote the 2022 Culture City of East Asia.

The Culture City of East Asia is an important humanities achievement that was codeveloped by China, Japan, and South Korea. The selected cities will carry out diverse cultural and tourism activities to promote cultural exchanges among the three countries.

China's Jinan and Wenzhou, Japan's Oita prefecture, and South Korea's Gyeongju city received the 2022 Culture City of East Asia honor.

Zhang Xilong, deputy director of the Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, said at the launch ceremony that the Culture City of East Asia program, which is part of a joint activity between China, Japan and South Korea, will become an important brand for regional cultural cooperation, and will play a key role in promoting China's cultural influence.

Jinan, which is dubbed the city of springs, is an important site for the inheritance and development of Confucian culture.

Zhang expressed hope that Jinan continues to give full play to its advantages to show its cultural charms to the world and promote East Asian cultural development.

The Think Tank for East Asian Cultural Studies will introduce senior scholars, industry elites and technical experts in culture and tourism to provide intellectual support for the innovative development of China's culture and tourism industries. It currently has more than 20 members from South Korea, Japan and China.

To further promote the East Asian cultural exchange, an urban new media alliance, an Asian theatre art exchange alliance, and a college youth volunteer alliance were established in Jinan at the ceremony.

The urban new media alliance is designed to promote East Asian culture to the world with the support of local media outlets. The Asian theatre art exchange alliance will enhance cultural and artistic exchanges and cooperation between cities in the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiavive and Culture Cities of East Asia.

Jinan will further host more than 100 cultural activities to expand all-round cooperation and exchanges with Japan and South Korea in culture, economy and trade, said Zhi Liang, director of the Jinan culture and tourism bureau.