On July 9, the chair of the 43rd Session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee Dr. Abulfas Garayev declared that the city of Fuzhou (China) would host the next session of the World Heritage Committee in 2020.

Later at the meeting, Tian Xuejun, Vice Education Minister and Chair of Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, was unanimously elected by all members of the Committee to be the chair of its next session.

Tian said in his speech that Chinese government attached great importance to heritage protection and conservation and would actively implement the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention) and firmly promote the global governance of world heritage. He noted that the decision of selecting Fuzhou as the host city of the Committee’s next session represented the Committee’s recognition of China’s contribution to world heritage protection. He also added that China would make all the necessary efforts to ensure efficient and effective organization of the next session, thereby contributing to the promotion of communication between civilizations, sustainable development and the development of a community of common destiny.

The 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee was held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, from June 30 to July 10. During this session, China’s two sites – Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China (Phase I) and Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City – were newly added to the World Heritage List.

Since its ratification of the World Heritage Convention in 1985, China has been one of the fastest-growing countries in terms of the number of world heritage sites. China is now home to a total of 55 world heritage sites, the highest number in the world.