BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a congratulatory letter to the 2023 Beijing Culture Forum that opened on the same day in Beijing.

In his letter, Xi highlighted the enduring fine traditional culture of the Chinese nation, which has always embraced openness and inclusiveness, noting that the Chinese civilization has always valued mutual understanding and respect among different civilizations.

"Beijing, with its long history and profound cultural heritage, serves as a powerful testament to the continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness and peaceful nature of the Chinese civilization," he said.

Xi said China will leverage the advantages of Beijing as an ancient capital and a national cultural center to strengthen cultural exchanges with the rest of the world, so as to jointly promote cultural prosperity, heritage preservation and mutual learning between civilizations and implement the Global Civilization Initiative.

Themed "inheriting cultural legacies and promoting exchanges and cooperation," the forum was jointly hosted by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and the Beijing municipal government.