The expert review committee of China’s Ministry of Culture recently released its list of 10 candidate cities to become the East Asian Capital of Culture. The cities of Qingdao and Jining, Shandong Province, were included on the list.

The appraisal was an East Asian cultural cooperation event which was started according to the joint declaration of the Fifth Trilateral Summit Meeting among China, the ROK and Japan, held in Beijing last May.

As a mid- and long-term trilateral strategic cultural cooperation project, the appraisal activity aims to extend respect to the diversity and fusion of culture, as well as promote the protection, continuity and innovative development of East Asian traditional cultures and their people’s identity.