International intangible cultural heritage week opens in Beijing

Nearly 1,000 delegates from home and abroad have brought nearly 500 intangible cultural heritage projects and over 3,000 exhibits and artworks at the first Beijing International Week of Intangible Cultural Heritage that opened on Sunday.

The four-day event consists of four sections that display the government's efforts in protecting intangible cultural heritage, distinctive domestic handicraft, international cultural forms and creative cultural products.

Two dialogues were held where experts in the field shared achievements in preserving and inheriting intangible cultural heritage and explored its innovations.

Rao Quan, vice-minister of culture and tourism, says the heritage week is a practical measure to support Beijing's construction as the national cultural center.

In recent years, China's intangible cultural heritage has seen vigorous development and has provided the world with the Chinese approach to intangible heritage protection and inheritance, Rao says.

He hopes the event will become a broad platform for promoting cultural exchange and cooperation between China and other countries.

Sima Hong, vice-mayor of Beijing, says Beijing is committed to strengthening the construction of the intangible cultural heritage protection and inheritance system, and the city has been actively promoting creative transformation and innovative development of intangible cultural heritage.