The 2026 Heze Peony International Communication Forum was held on Saturday in Heze, known as the peony capital of China, Shandong province, drawing officials, scholars and experts from countries including Russia and Italy to discuss how the flower can serve as a bridge for cultural exchange and mutual understanding.

Centered on the theme "Blooming Across the World, Cultivating Shared Beauty", the forum is part of the 2026 World Peony Conference, a month-long event that kicked off on Friday.

With a history spanning about 1,500 years, Heze boasts 1,308 registered peony varieties across nine color groups and 10 flower forms. The total output value of peony from cultivation to value-added processing of peony products exceeded 13 billion yuan in 2025.

"Flowers are an aesthetic language that transcends national borders," Zhang Lun, secretary of the Heze Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said.

He called for coordinated efforts to promote both "peonies going global" and "flowers coming to Heze", injecting new momentum into building a harmonious and shared global community.