On December 14, the Ministerial Symposium of the Asian Cultural Cooperation Forum was held in Hong Kong, where ministers of culture or representatives of 15 countries held in-depth discussions on policies and experiences in promoting cultural exchanges. The meeting was held in a combination of offline and online modes, and Hu Heping, Minister of Culture and Tourism of China, delivered a keynote speech by video.

Hu Heping said that in recent years, especially since the 2019 Asian Civilization Dialogue Conference was held, Asian countries have made efforts to overcome the epidemic and other unfavorable factors, strengthen cultural communication and dialogue, exchanges and cooperation, and have achieved fruitful results, which have injected cultural power to promote economic and social development and help people's hearts and minds to communicate. At present, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change, but also faces a rare opportunity for development. To build a peaceful, peaceful, prosperous, open and inclusive Asia and the world, we need to use culture as a medium to communicate with the mind, and to play the unique role of culture in silencing and infusing the mind. The recently concluded 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has put cultural construction in a prominent position, emphasizing "the prosperous development of cultural undertakings and industries" and "deepening exchanges and mutual understanding among civilizations". The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China is willing to work with all parties to respect the diversity of civilizations, learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses in exchanges and mutual learning, promote people's mutual understanding and affinity, and jointly write a new chapter of people-to-people exchanges, so as to cultivate and water a cultural garden that is both beautiful and common, and to give full play to Asia's role as an important player in the global civilization of exchanges and mutual learning.

Mr. Hu proposed a four-point initiative. The first is to strengthen policy coordination and jointly safeguard and promote open and inclusive Asian values. The second is to promote project cooperation and practical cooperation in the fields of tourism promotion, translation of classic works, film and television exchanges and cooperation, and cultural heritage preservation, so as to promote deeper and more practical humanistic exchanges among Asian countries. Third, implement the Silk Road Program, and launch the "Cultural Silk Road" program in five areas, namely music, fine arts, performing arts, libraries and cultural heritage, to help form a diversified and interactive pattern of humanistic exchanges. Fourthly, we will innovate in the field of cooperation, learn from each other and share experience in the development of new cultural industries, realize complementarity of advantages, transform the advantages of Asia's rich cultural resources into products, industries and economic advantages, and jointly expand the new field of humanistic exchanges in Asia.

Hu Heping pointed out that 2022 is the 25th anniversary of the resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong by the Chinese government, and that over the past 25 years, the practice of "One Country, Two Systems" has achieved great success in Hong Kong. In the future, Hong Kong's position in the international culture, tourism and other fields will be consolidated and enhanced, and will give full play to the characteristics and advantages of close contact with Asian countries and regions, the East and the West, and other cultures are compatible and inclusive, in order to promote the prosperity and development of the Asian culture, and to build a closer community of destiny in Asia, the community of destiny of mankind, to make a new and greater contribution.

Organized by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the HKSAR Government, the two-day forum will include a ministerial symposium and a conference on "Revitalization and Conservation of Historical Relics", among other activities.