Wenzhou city has long been committed to promoting its distinctive culture among foreigners. [Photo/wendu.cn]

The Chinese cities of Wenzhou and Jinan, Oita prefecture in Japan, and Gyeongju city in South Korea held an online video conference on Dec 21 to enhance mutual understanding, local media outlets reported.

The four places had earlier this year received the 2022 Culture City of East Asia honor.

During the conference, the four parties exchanged views on the progress of a variety of international exchange activities in culture, tourism, education, and sports. The cities were given priority in participating in State-level foreign cultural and tourism promotion activities.

Wenzhou, a historic coastal city located in the southeastern part of Zhejiang province, is scheduled to host over 100 international exchange activities in 2022, that cover fields such as cultural heritage items, literature and art, sports events, tourism, gourmet food, creative design, and economic and trade cooperation.

The city is aiming to refresh its international image as well as enhance cultural confidence in local residents so as to allow itself to be seen and heard by more foreigners.

The Culture City of East Asia program was officially launched by China, Japan and South Korea in 2013, and is the first international cultural city naming event in Asia. It is currently deemed the international brand with the highest value in China's cultural field.

Wenzhou has in recent years placed great emphasis on the protection and inheritance of culture, such as upgrading public cultural services by building new libraries in urban and rural areas.

By virtue of its global network of overseas Chinese, the city has also built an overseas publicity center and five bases in the city to promote its local culture and enhance its global influence.

Wenzhou and Jinan in East China, Oita prefecture in Japan, and Gyeongju city in South Korea hold an online video conference on international exchanges on Dec 21. [Photo/66wz.cn]