2026 Yangtze River Civilization Forum opens in Chongqing

By Liu Xinyu

(ECNS) -- The 2026 Yangtze River Civilization Forum opened in Chongqing on Tuesday under the theme "Crossing Rivers and Seas, Mutual Learning of Civilizations."

Nearly 20 countries, including Egypt, Brazil, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Australia and Mexico, sent prominent guests, consular officials and foreign media representatives to Chongqing to discuss cultural inheritance and exchange.

Gao Xiang, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said in his address that the Yangtze River, rising on the "roof of the world" and running thousands of kilometers to the sea, has long sustained the movement of people, the spread of technology and the flow of trade between China and the rest of the world.

"A fundamental aspect of civilization is about rediscovering and exhuming the past. We are all engaged in this process," Martin Jacques, visiting research fellow at the Asia Research Centre of the London School of Economics and Political Science, said.

"Rivers are bearers of change. They are arteries of civilization. They enable contact and cross-fertilisation that otherwise would be impossible. They bring together humanity. They encourage cosmopolitanism and mixing rather than isolation and separation," Jacques said.

Since 2023, the Yangtze River Civilization Forum has been successfully held three consecutive times. Concurrent events include the 2026 World Great Rivers Concert, the 2026 World Great Rivers Poetry Gathering, Yangtze River culture study tours, and field trips by Sichuan-Chongqing writers along the Yangtze River for ecological and cultural inspiration.

Through diverse scenarios, the forum aims to comprehensively showcase the profound heritage of Yangtze River culture and promote its creative transformation and innovative development.