Yellow River Culture Forum held in east China city

JINAN, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The Yellow River Culture Forum closed on Wednesday in the city of Dongying in east China's Shandong Province, in the estuary of the Yellow River.

Delegates from all nine provincial-level regions through which the Yellow River runs attended the two-day event, launching the Yellow River Culture Forum Initiative.

The initiative calls for jointly working for integrated high-quality cultural and tourism development in the Yellow River basin, improving the Yellow River cultural and tourism brand, and launching high-quality tourism routes.

In recent years, the regions along the Yellow River, which is the cradle of ancient Chinese civilization, have made marked progress on coordinated industrial development, ecological protection and the promotion of Yellow River culture.

"This year, we will speed up building a national cultural export base, jointly develop Yellow River-themed cultural products with cities like Xi'an and Kaifeng, and explore setting up a Yellow River cultural research institute," said Duan Lianwen, an official with the Administration of Jinan Area of China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

More than 80 kinds of traditional paintings, crafts and cultural and creative products from nine provincial-level regions and nine cities along the Yellow River were showcased through activities during the forum.

"The Yellow River, together with the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, are distinctive symbols of Chinese civilization," said Liu Yuzhu, head of the China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

"Discovering the cultural connotation of the Yellow River, revitalizing the Yellow River cultural heritage and better telling the Yellow River story is our unshirkable duty and responsibility," said Liu.