The 2022 China (Qufu) International Confucius Cultural Festival as well as the Eighth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations was held in Qufu, a county-level city in Jining, Shandong province, from Sept 26 to 28, with 36 countries' envoys and more than 600 experts and scholars from different fields in attendance at the forum.

This year's forum, under the theme of "Diversity of Human Civilizations and Common Values of Mankind", focused on global common topics such as the protection of human cultural heritage, innovation and development of culture and exchanges of human civilization.

Wu Weihua, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said during the event's opening ceremony that the exchanges and dialogues, as well as the inclusion and mutual learning of Confucianism have been playing an active role in the continuation and inheritance of the Chinese civilization for 5,000 years, and have also been providing pivotal enlightenment for exchanges, cooperation, and mutual learning among different people and different civilizations around the world.

The forum is not only an important platform to promote exchanges and mutual learning among world civilizations, but also a mirror reflecting Confucian culture to the world.

As of the end of 2019, statistics indicate that there were 540 Confucius Institutes and 1,154 Confucius classes in 162 countries and regions around the world, which serve as a channel for people worldwide to learn about Confucian culture.

Sister city relations are an important aspect of friendly exchanges between cities from home and abroad, as well as a force to promote Confucian culture to the world.

Representatives and diplomatic envoys from more than 40 of Shandong's international sister cities in over 20 countries attended the Nishan International Mayors' Dialogue, which was an important part of the Eighth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, via online and offline channels, and came to an agreement to emphasize the exchanges, mutual learning between sister cities and strengthen economic and trade cooperation and improve people's livelihood to build a promising future together.

The forum endorsed the consensus on the Eighth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, which had significant effects on creating a community with a shared future for humanity and strengthening exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.