The 2024 World Chinese Language Conference opened in Beijing on Thursday, attracting over 2,000 participants, including government officials, school principals, experts, scholars, representatives of teachers and students, and diplomatic envoys from more than 160 countries and regions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the event, which was read out by Vice President Han Zheng at the opening ceremony of the meeting.
In his letter, Xi congratulated the Confucius Institute on the 20th anniversary of its establishment.
He noted the Chinese language, which encapsulates the millennia-old wisdom of Chinese civilization, is an important public cultural product that China has contributed to the world.
Xi expressed the hope that the conference will enhance interconnection and integration, build consensus, and strive to build bridges for linguistic connectivity, mutual understanding, mutual trust, and mutual learning between civilizations, thus contributing to jointly building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Noting that President Xi attaches great importance to international Chinese education, Han said the flourishing of international Chinese education has opened important windows for people around the world to learn Chinese, established bridges of communication for enhancing friendship between China and other nations, and provided a broad platform for the exchange and mutual learning between different civilizations. The vice president pointed out that China has proposed and actively implemented the Global Civilization Initiative, and is committed to strengthening international cultural exchanges and cooperation.
China places high importance on international Chinese education and language exchange cooperation, and will continue to vigorously support countries in their efforts to promote Chinese education, helping more overseas individuals learn about Chinese language and culture, and gain a true, multi-dimensional and panoramic understanding of China, he said.
He noted that through the conference, institutions from domestic and abroad, as well as international Chinese educators are expected to exchange ideas, build consensus, and contribute wisdom and strength to the high-quality development of international Chinese education, the enhancement of mutual understanding and friendship among the people of various countries, and the promotion of exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations.
Representatives from domestic and across the world including former Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Tozik, who also serves as the chairman of Belarusian-Chinese Friendship Society and Cambodian deputy prime minister Hang Chuon Naron, also the country's Minister of Education, Youth and Sport, addressed the meeting.
Before the opening of the event, Han also visited an exhibition showcasing the innovative progress achieved on international Chinese eduction and by the Confucius Institute.
Themed "Interconnection, Integration, Inheritance, Innovation," the 2024 World Chinese Language Conference is hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Education.
World Chinese Language Conference kicks off in Beijing
China announced significant breakthroughs in its ongoing archaeological projects on Thursday, unveiling new discoveries at ancient sites dating back to the earliest dynasties of Chinese civilization.
The announcement was made by the National Cultural Heritage Administration in Beijing.
At the 3,700-year-old Erlitou site in central China's Henan Province, archaeologists have, for the first time, uncovered the complete layout of a crossroads area with four partitioned wall sections, further shedding light on the multi-grid layout and architectural system of the ancient capital's palace area.
Discovered in 1959, the Erlitou ruins have been identified by archaeologists as one of the capital cities during the Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 B.C.), China's earliest known dynasty.
Known as "the earliest China," Erlitou holds significant reference value for studying the origin of Chinese civilization, the rise of kingdoms, the planning of ancient capitals, and other key issues related to the development of Chinese civilization. Its central area currently spans approximately three million square meters.
Meanwhile, at Yinxu, or the Yin Ruins in Anyang, researchers have mapped an intricate network of main roads and ditches north of the Huan River, which once formed the urban framework of the Shang (Yin) Dynasty (1600–1046 B.C.) capital.
"Previously, our work at Yinxu focused on the southern bank of the Huan River, where numerous oracle bones were discovered. However, the northern bank, particularly the area east of the Xibeigang royal tombs, was largely unexplored. Now, we have uncovered a network of roads: three running vertical to the other three, with some large roads stretching over 1.6 kilometers, completely transforming our understanding of the layout of Yinxu," said Wang Wei, a member of the Department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The Zhongcun cemetery in north China's Shanxi Province, dating to the transition between the Xia and Shang periods, has provided valuable insights into high-status burials. To date, archaeologists have excavated five high-status tombs from the late Xia and early Shang periods at Zhongcun. As the largest and most significant burial site from the Xia-Shang transition period in the eastern Loess Plateau, it reflects unique local burial customs while also demonstrating influences from Erlitou culture, providing evidence of cultural convergence.
At the Sanxingdui Ruins in southwest China's Sichuan Province, new findings include jade and stone workshops, building foundations, and large water networks, offering deeper insights into the site's layout and functional zoning.
Artifacts unearthed at Sanxingdui highlight the deep connections between Sanxingdui culture and regions such as the Central Plains, northwest China, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, emphasizing the interconnected and multi-regional nature of early Chinese civilization.
Spanning 12 square kilometers, the Sanxingdui Ruins are believed to be remnants of the Shu Kingdom, dating back 4,500 to 3,000 years.
Discovered in the late 1920s in Guanghan City, the site is considered one of the world's most significant archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
China unveils key archaeological findings, shedding new light on earliest dynasties
