Representatives of local museums in Jining, East China's Shandong province celebrate the establishment of the Jining Alliance of Museums. [Photo/jnnews.tv]

Local museums in Jining, East China's Shandong province formed an alliance on May 18, which was also International Museum Day, in order to preserve and promote traditional Chinese culture, local media outlets reported.

Members of the alliance consist of all 52 museums in Jining, 18 of which are State-owned. According to the alliance's bylaws, it is a non-profit organization that aims to protect and promote Confucian culture and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal culture, as well as enhance exchanges and cooperation between local museums.

The alliance will organize a series of events to study and showcase traditional culture in Jining. Members will deepen their cooperation in a variety of fields, such as training personnel, developing cultural innovation products, and academic research.

The Jining Alliance of Museums is expected to build a strong brand with the city's rich cultural resources and to explore new innovative ways of further developing traditional culture, said Xu Wei, director of the Jining bureau of culture and tourism.

An art gallery featuring the works of Zhu Fukan, a renowned calligrapher, was opened at the Jining Municipal Museum on the same day.