The Yangtze River Delta Cultural Heritage Protection and Cultural Resources Sharing Research Alliance was formally established in Nanjing on January 17, along with the opening of the first Yangtze River Delta High-quality Cultural Development Forum.

Initiated and hosted by Nanjing University, the forum attracted renowned experts and scholars from top universities including Fudan University, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the University of Science and Technology of China.

Discussions focused on the protection of cultural heritage and sharing of cultural resources under the context of the delta’s integrated development, a national strategy that involves Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai. The five major topics included ecological civilization along the river, intangible cultural heritage and application of digital technologies. More than 100 scholars from home and abroad participated the forum in-person or virtually.

Lyu Jian, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Nanjing University, said that the delta’s high-quality development cannot be achieved without the underpinning of cultural soft power. Nanjing University has started the construction of Suzhou campus and will pool resources from Nanjing to become a role model in terms of high-quality development of education. The university has also brought into existence a new development pattern of operating four campuses in two cities. It’s hoped that universities in East China will cooperate closely under the alliance to contribute to the preservation, communication, and innovative development of the delta’s cultural legacies.

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