BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua/ Wang Peng and Shi Yucen) The reporters learned at the press conference held by the State Council Information Office held on July 5 that the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)[Petrel1] would kick off in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, on July 16. At this session, UNESCO will review the applications for world heritage listing online for the first time.

His Excellency Mr. Tian Xuejun[Petrel2], Vice Minister of Education and Chairperson of the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China for UNESCO, introduced at the press conference that at the opening ceremony of the session, the principals of the three major governing bodies of UNESCO will attend the opening ceremony online and deliver speeches. After the opening ceremony, the session will go online, and a series of operating norms established and used by this session for online review of the application for world heritage listing will become an important yardstick against which the online and offline activities for world heritage events held in the post-pandemic era will be measured.

According to Mr. Tian Xuejun, this session is an extended one to review the proposed World Heritage projects for both 2020 and 2021, including 45 projects in the pipeline for the World Heritage List and 258 world heritage state of conservation reports[Petrel3], equal to the previous sessions’ workloads doubled, and various lists including the World Heritage List are expected to see important updates. At the same time, this session will also focus on the various challenges and risks faced by world heritage conservation, pool the ideas and wisdom of the participants, and put forward new consensus and new initiatives to address future challenges and work hard to meet the strategic goals in the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the balanced and sustainable development of world heritage.

It is learned that a series of related activities and side events will be held during the session, including the World Heritage Young Professionals Forum[Petrel4] and the World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum[Petrel5] jointly organized by China and UNESCO, as well as 8 side events hosted by China.