Xinhua Silk Road: Why UNESCO commends E. China's Wenzhou twice within just half a month?

BEIJING, Nov. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Wenzhou city in east China's Zhejiang Province has been commended twice by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently for its practical achievements in cultural heritage preservation, cultural and tourism integration, and driving sustainable development with culture.

The 2025 Maritime Silk Road Urban Cooperation & Development Conference and the International Travel Agents Conference was held recently in Wenzhou. The main session of the event held on Nov. 19 attracted 300-plus participants from home and abroad.

The Maritime Silk Road has long served as a vital bridge for trade, dialogue, and cultural exchanges between ancient China and the wider world, said Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, assistant director-general for culture at UNESCO in his video speech, noting that Wenzhou, a city thriving due to over a thousand years of maritime commerce, embodies this enduring spirit of openness and connectivity.

He fully affirmed Wenzhou's systematic practice in cultural heritage protection, integration of culture and tourism, and sustainable development through platforms such as the Maritime Silk Road Urban Cooperation & Development Conference.

A certificate from UNESCO was sent to Wenzhou from Paris on November 3, highly appreciating the firm commitment demonstrated by the city in protecting local traditional skills, and stating that Wenzhou is particularly outstanding in inheriting and protecting precious cultural heritage such as historical knowledge and ancient Chinese grammar, making important contributions to leveraging the positive role of culture in promoting sustainable development.

As a famous historical and cultural city in China, Wenzhou has a civilization history of over 5,000 years and an urban history of more than 2,210 years. It currently has 35 national, 159 provincial and 836 municipal intangible cultural heritage items.

In recent years, Wenzhou has actively promoted the creative transformation and innovative development of work related to intangible cultural heritage, establishing related workshops and international communication research centers, and propelling the integration of intangible cultural heritage into the education system, as well as the frequent appearance of local culture on the international stage, etc..

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