On the afternoon of May 12, Yin Li, Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, met with Khaled El-Enany, Director-General of UNESCO.
Yin expressed his gratitude to UNESCO for its attention to and support for Beijing’s development. He said that Beijing is China’s national political center, cultural center, center for international exchanges, and an international center for sci-tech innovation. It is a vibrant super-large city where tradition and modernity converge, with abundant educational resources, dynamic scientific and technological innovation, and the largest number of World Heritage Sites among cities worldwide. Beijing is willing to leverage its strengths and collaborate with UNESCO to promote progress in various undertakings. Yin said the two sides should expand cooperation in education, science and technology, and fully leverage the International Center for Creativity and Sustainable Development. He called for deeper cooperation with universities, research institutions and high-tech enterprises on issues of shared interest such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology and low-carbon technologies, so as to achieve greater results in talent training and exchanges, joint scientific research and technological breakthroughs, and the commercialization of innovation outcomes. The two sides should also deepen dialogue among civilizations, strengthen international exchanges and mutual learning in areas such as the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, creative design, digital development of education, and cross-border technology transfer, and actively implement the Global Civilization Initiative. Yin expressed the hope that UNESCO will continue to provide robust guidance in areas including cultural heritage protection, adaptive revitalization, value interpretation and dissemination, and international exchanges and cooperation, so that the two sides can jointly safeguard the treasures of human civilization.
El-Enany spoke highly of Beijing as a vibrant and dynamic international metropolis. He said that UNESCO stands ready to forge closer cooperation with China, strengthen exchanges with Beijing in cultural heritage protection, science, culture and technology, continuously enhance mutual learning among civilizations, and jointly promote world peace and development for the benefit of people of all countries.
Ren Youqun, Vice Minister of Education and Director of the China National Commission for UNESCO, and Zhao Lei, Member of the Standing Committee and Secretary General of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, attended the meeting.
