?The Fifth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations will be inaugurated on Sept 26 in Qufu, Shandong province.

Shandong province has been actively making preparations in the hope of creating an international platform to foster intercultural communications.

Different from previous sessions, this year's forum has made a lot of changes in design, organization and arrangement. Focusing on institutionalization, the forum effectively integrates the cultural resources of Shandong.

Multiple methods have been employed to ensure the preparatory work is scientific, standardized and systematized, which includes improving the level and scale of the forum, and setting up an academic committee, amongst other things.

Wang Xuedian, executive vice-president of Advanced Institute of Confucian Studies, Shandong University, said: "The scholars we have invited this time possess not only professional knowledge but also their personal insight into the present and future of human beings. Therefore we are sure that the ideas and thoughts exchanged during the forum will be outstanding and very valuable."

Wang Zhimin, former vice-principle of Shandong Normal University and honorary president of the Center for Qilu Cultural Studies, said: "The forum this year will be held together with the Confucius cultural festival so that we can enhance the influence of both activities."

Embodying the significant progress made by Shandong province to further its opening-up strategy, Nishan Forum on World Civilizations is devoted to the promotion of academic research on Confucianism.

It is expected that the forum will make its due contributions to carrying forward the traditional Chinese culture, strengthening the influence of Confucianism in East Asia and the world, and facilitating the communication between Chinese civilization and other civilizations.

Wang Xuedian added that: "Nishan Forum on World Civilizations has built a bridge that connects the ideological culture of Shandong and the world. It will help Shandong Province better implement its opening-up policy."

The fourth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations opens in Nishan, Shandong province on Nov 15, 2016, attracting more than 250 distinguished specialists and scholars from domestic and foreign universities, colleges and scientific research institutes. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Confucian Temple in Qufu, a county-level city of Jining, Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

The city of Qufu, hometown of Confucius, holds a grand ceremony celebrating the 2,568th anniversary of his birth on Sept 28, 2017. [Photo/VCG]