China to hold first heritage expo in Fujian

To fully publicize China’s UNESCO World Heritage sites and traditional culture, and to facilitate communication and cooperation among the countries along the One Belt and One Road initiative, China will hold its first- ever World Heritage- themed Cultural Expo from August 11 to 15 in Fuzhou, capital of East China’s Fujian Province, China News Service reported Friday.

There will be more than 6,500 world- class stands over an exhibition area of 126,000 square meters.

“There are 50 registered [ UNESCO] World Heritage sites in China, the second- largest number in the world. World Heritage sites serve as an important platform for China to demonstrate its ‘ soft power,’” said Zeng Haihong, president of the Executive Council of the expo, at a press conference on Friday.

China officially started the application processes to enlist Fujian’s Gulangyu Island and Hoh Xil Nature Reserve in Qinghai Province in 2017 as a UNESCO World Cultural Site and a Natural Heritage Site respectively. If the applications are successful, China will surpass Italy to become the nation with the most registered sites.

Zeng also revealed that “as Italy has not filed applications this year, the possibility of China surpassing Italy in terms of number of sites is high.”

Italy has 51 UNESCO sites now, reports said.