Participants in the 2024 Global Gen Z Dialogue on Meizhou Island try on Meizhou women's attire. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 10th Global Mazu Culture Forum will be held in Putian, Fujian province, from Oct 31 to Nov 2.

With the theme "Shared Future, Harmonious Coexistence", this year's forum aims to foster dialogue and mutual understanding among different civilizations.

For the first time, the forum will feature 11 sub-forums across Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America, and Africa. Participants will include senior officials from national ministries, representatives of international organizations, foreign dignitaries, diplomatic envoys, and leading scholars from around the world, making it the largest and most inclusive edition to date.

Highlights will include the naming ceremony of a marine satellite and, the Global Gen Z Dialogue on Meizhou Island, as well as eight thematic sub-forums.

Chen Junqian, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Scientific Research Management of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the forum seeks to build broad social consensus and enhance the global influence of Mazu culture.

Originating on the Chinese mainland and deeply rooted in Taiwan through generations of shared beliefs, Mazu worship serves as a symbol of cross-Strait cultural bonds. The forum will also host a forum on Fujian–Taiwan Mazu cultural exchange and see the launch of construction on the first cross-Strait integrated community in Putian.

The 27th Meizhou Mazu Culture and Tourism Festival will take place simultaneously.

Inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, Mazu worship has been a vital link connecting communities around the world since the forum's establishment in 2016 on Meizhou Island, Putian.