China to deepen strategic cooperation with UNESCO to better benefit all countries: Xi

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that Beijing will deepen "strategic" cooperation with UNESCO to better benefit "all countries."

Xi made these remarks during a meeting with UNESCO's Director General Khaled El-Enany in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a post on US social media company X.

El-Enany, in a separate post on X, said that at a time when multilateralism is under pressure, the China-UNESCO partnership can help "build more dialogue, more trust and more concrete results for peace, development and shared progress."

Thanking Xi for a "warm" welcome, he said China is one of UNESCO’s "most important" partners.

"President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to UNESCO in 2014 remains a defining moment in our relations, with a powerful message: civilizations become richer through exchanges and mutual learning — a vision at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate," he added.

Established in 1945 and headquartered in Paris, UNESCO is a specialized UN agency established to foster peace, security, and international cooperation through education, science, and culture.