On April 26, the 2024 "Belt and Road" Creative and Sustainable Development Seminar, co-hosted by the International Center for Creativity and Sustainable Development (ICCSD) and the School of International and Public Affairs at Jilin University, was held at the Lumicang New Audio-Visual Industrial Park in Beijing. Twelve participants from countries including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Burundi, Ghana, Rwanda, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania attended the event.

Group photo of the participants of the seminar

As the special speaker of this seminar, Yang Baozhen, Former Chinese Consul to France and Member of the Advisory Committee of the UNESCO ICCSD, delivered a lecture titled "How China Implements the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development". She introduced specific measures and significant achievements China has made in recent years in areas such as poverty reduction, education, health, women's rights, and international cooperation.

At the seminar

Participants expressed their admiration for China's tremendous achievements in poverty alleviation, highlighting it as an inspiring example for developing countries in promoting economic development and improving people's living standards.

In the afternoon, the participants visited the Longfu Temple and Wangfujing area in Dongcheng District, Beijing. Their first stop was the "FUNFLY" project at Longfu Temple Phase II, an immersive flight experience hall where participants experienced new cultural and tourism experiences powered by digital technology. From the Meili Snow Mountains to the Yellow River full of twists, from the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River to Zhangjiajie's forest... A full-angle, bird's-eye "flight" took the participants across beautiful China.

Yetimgeta Asrat Maru from Ethiopia remarked that China's practice of using technology to develop tourism is at the forefront globally. This form of digital virtual tourism breaks through spatial and geographical constraints, providing a very impressive experience for tourists.

Foreign students trying to make Lord Rabbit figurines with dough

Digital cultural tourism is a new form of developing smart cultural tourism, injecting new vitality into tourism informationization. The participants also visited "The Great Details", a digital exploration space for Chinese arts and crafts, where they immersed themselves in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", experiencing a city walk in the streets of the Song Dynasty, decoding ancient Chinese daily life between virtual and real settings. Led by an intangible cultural heritage inheritor, participants also tried to make Lord Rabbit figurines with dough, getting up close to the charm of traditional Chinese folk culture.

The students showing their hand-made Lord Rabbit figurines

According to Tilipo Ngambi from Malawi, China is currently enhancing the protection of traditional culture in various ways, especially by using digital technology to promote the protection of cultural diversity. The digital development of culture vividly presents Chinese culture to the world, also providing new opportunities for exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations.

It is known that the seminar was jointly hosted by the UNESCO ICCSD and the School of International and Public Affairs at Jilin University. It centered on themes such as creativity, design, technology, urban renewal, and sustainable development. Through lectures and field research, the seminar shared China's explorations and experiences in the field of creativity and sustainable development with participants from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, promoting cultural exchanges and mutual understanding, so as to collectively drive sustainable development through creativity.