The "2022 Culture City of East Asia · Jinan" serial celebration event opened via online channels in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province on April 26.

This year, Jinan will host more than 100 cultural exchange activities, featuring conferences, forums, exhibitions, performances, competitions, and festivals, to expand all-round cooperation and exchanges with Japan and South Korea in culture, economy and trade.

Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang province, Oita prefecture in Japan, and Gyeongju city in South Korea, all of which received the 2022 Culture City of East Asia honor, extended video greetings during the ceremony.

The Shandong handicraft product base for China-Japan-Republic of Korea exchanges and the Culture City of East Asia exchange base were unveiled at the ceremony. The two bases are designed to improve the quality of urban culture, enhance cultural confidence in cities, and promote the upgrading of cities.

Zhang Xu, vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism attended the ceremony online and extended his greetings. He said: "Jinan is a world-renowned city for springs, one of the birthplaces of Confucian culture, and also an important gateway for mutual exchanges among Chinese, Japanese and South Korean civilizations."

Zhang expressed hope that Jinan will take the opportunity of being elected as the Cultural City of East Asia to showcase its cultural charms to the world and contribute to building an Asian community with a shared future.

Yu Haitian, mayor of Jinan, said that being selected as a "Culture City of East Asia" in 2022 is not only a great honor for Jinan but also a responsibility.

According to Yu, Jinan will build a broader and diversified platform for cultural exchanges and host a wide range of high-quality cultural activities through online and offline channels to expand the city's international reputation.

The Culture City of East Asia program was officially launched by China, Japan and South Korea in 2013 and was the first international cultural city naming event in Asia. It has been recognized as a prestigious international cultural brand in China. Jinan was honored the title of the 2022 Culture City of East Asia on Aug 30, 2021.