Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Audrey Azoulay at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 28, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Audrey Azoulay in Beijing on Thursday.

China has always supported the work of UNESCO, and together with UNESCO, has made positive contributions to safeguarding world peace and promoting global development, Xi said, adding that the valuable China-UNESCO cooperation should be maintained.

The world is made up of diverse civilizations, and China is among the countries with the longest histories and oldest cultures, he said.

China is willing to work more closely with UNESCO to continuously improve the capacity for and level of heritage protection, and promote exchanges, mutual learning and cooperation among different civilizations, in order to contribute to world peace and facilitate the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, he said.

Xi said that China is committed to building itself into a great, modern socialist country in all respects by the middle of the century, and to advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through a Chinese path to modernization.

To this end, China adheres to the strategy of invigorating the country through science and education; promotes the development of education, science, technology and culture; and attaches importance to international exchanges and cooperation with all parties including UNESCO, he said.

Azoulay said that the Chinese government has always attached great importance to and actively supported UNESCO's work, and that the UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education -- established with China's support -- plays an important role in promoting the education of girls and women around the world.

Azoulay said that UNESCO is satisfied with its important consensus and cooperation with China in a wide range of fields, and hopes to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China further in the fields of cultural heritage protection, science, culture and technology to achieve further international consensus and contribute to safeguarding world peace and development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Audrey Azoulay at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 28, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]