The 2025 Heze Peony International Communication Forum and the Seminar on Yellow River Stories begin in Heze, Shandong province. [Photo by Yang Tingdong/for chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2025 Heze Peony International Communication Forum and the Seminar on Yellow River Stories were held in Heze, Shandong, in April. Over 300 guests, including envoys from Maldives, Suriname, and Vietnam, as well as scholars from Chinese provinces along the Yellow River and domestic universities, gathered to discuss the mutual empowerment of Yellow River and peony cultures and the exchange of civilizations.

Du Zhanyuan, director of the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, pointed out that peonies have long been a window into Chinese culture.

He said the importance of protecting the environment and learning from the wisdom of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature in various civilizations.

"The Yellow River Civilization, which has nurtured and sustained the peony's legacy, reflects the power of heritage in shaping collective identity. In the Maldives, our cultural heritage is similarly intertwined with the ocean," said Fazeel Najeeb, ambassador of the Maldives to China.

He added that both symbols – the river and the ocean – remind us that cultural identity is rooted in our natural environment and flows beyond borders to connect us with others.

The guests also discussed topics such as the Yellow River culture and Chinese civilization, ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River, and exchanges between the Yellow River culture and world river civilizations.

"The Yellow River and peonies are not just symbols of China's past; they are vibrant elements of its present and future," said Prof. Shahbaz Khan, director and representative of the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia.