Nishan Forum on Cultural Relics, which highlighted the protection and utilization of Confucian cultural relics, opened in Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, a county-level city in Jining, East China's Shandong province on Sept 26.

As part of this year's China (Qufu) International Confucius Cultural Festival and the Eighth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, the forum aims to better interpret the value of Confucius cultural legacies and build a pilot demonstration zone for outstanding traditional Chinese culture.

In his speech via a video link, Lu Jin, deputy head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, urged more efforts to improve the protection and utilization of cultural relics by ensuring their safety through technologically innovative means.

He also called on participation by social forces and for giving play to the advantages of platforms such as the Nishan Forum on World Civilizations to better bolster the Chinese national cultural spirit, perspective and self-confidence contained in historic relics.

The efforts would also help improve the protection and utilization of cultural heritages, empower public cultural services, and advance spiritual civilization as well as economic and social development, Lu added.

More than 30 experts and frontier practitioners in cultural heritage protection at the forum agreed that China has made progress in protecting Confucian cultural heritages such as Confucius temples and academies, and that more scholars and specialists are now devoted to exploring the value of Confucian cultural legacies in the new era.

They recognized the pioneering attempts of Confucius temples and academies across the nation in inheriting and developing the Confucian culture.

Nishan Forum on Cultural Relics opens in Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, a county-level city in Jining, East China's Shandong province on Sept 26. [Photo/Jining News]