To explore the contemporary values of Yellow River culture and the development path for its protection and inheritance, scholars, experts and officials from across the country gathered on Tuesday in Dongying, Shandong province — where the river flows into the sea — for a two-day forum.

Snaking through seven provinces and two autonomous regions across North China, the 5,464-kilometer Yellow River is an age-old witness to the nation's history. As the cradle of Chinese civilization, the Yellow River Basin has been the political, economic and cultural center of China.

Its rich history and unique traditions have imbued the diverse cultural and tourism resources along the river in Shandong with profound meaning, Shahbaz Khan, director of UNESCO's Beijing office, said in a video speech to the forum.

"Certainly, it needs acknowledgment from social, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions, which have been established over more than 3,000 years," he said.

A cooperation agreement for communication among the provinces and autonomous regions along the river was signed at the opening ceremony of the forum. They will join hands in promoting Yellow River culture in several sectors, including revolutionary culture, tourism and the protection and utilization of cultural relics.

China has made remarkable efforts in protecting the Yellow River, the second-longest river in the country, among which is the Yellow River Protection Law that took effect on April 1.

The law covers ecological conservation and restoration, environmental pollution control, as well as the need to protect, inherit and promote the Yellow River's culture in areas along its route.

It also mentions enhancing the influence of Yellow River culture by means including promoting international communication about Yellow River culture and encouraging and supporting Yellow River cultural exchange and cooperation activities.

"To protect the Yellow River is to protect the Chinese nation, and the Chinese culture and spirit," Ji Bingxuan, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said at the forum.

"We need to use the law to protect our mother river, making it healthier and more beautiful, so it will always benefit our nation," he said.

The forum attracted intangible cultural inheritors and folk artists from the nine provinces and autonomous regions along the Yellow River's route to a festival in Dongying where they showcased the rich culture cultivated in the basin.

Handicrafts, performances and more than 100 characteristic agricultural products were put on display and sale, while delicious foods were also available, including barbecue from Zibo, Shandong province, which has been popular on Chinese social media recently.

Lin Wu, Party chief of the forum host province, said Shandong is willing to work together with its counterparts along the river to write a new chapter of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin.

"We will join hands to advance ecological protection, industrial transformation and upgrade, integrated development of culture and tourism, further opening up and promoting common prosperity among different aspects," he said.