The unveiling ceremony of the "Overseas Chinese International Cultural Exchange Base" is held on April 15, 2020. [Photo/cnbz.gov.cn]

The Y.C. James Yen Museum in Bazhong city, Sichuan province, held an unveiling ceremony of the "Overseas Chinese International Cultural Exchange Base", on April 15, 2020.

Luo Zengbin, secretary of the CPC Bazhong Municipal Committee, and Liu Yiqin, vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Returned Overseas Chinese Federation, attended the unveiling ceremony and delivered speeches.

Luo said that Y.C. James Yen, a native of Bazhong, is a world-renowned civilian educator and rural builder. He is a role model for Chinese people and overseas Chinese as well as the pride of the Bazhong people.

Recognizing the Y.C. James Yen Museum as an Overseas Chinese International Cultural Exchange Base reflects the great support of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and the Sichuan Provincial Returned Overseas Chinese Federation for Bazhong. It also recognizes and affirms the historical and cultural value of the museum. 

The museum will help promote cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and facilitate Y.C. James Yen cultural inheritance and development. It will also strengthen the cultural soft power of Bazhong and accelerate the pace of revitalization and development of old revolutionary base areas. 

This year marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of Y.C. James Yen. We will take the inauguration of the base as an opportunity to build the museum into a special platform to serve overseas Chinese and build a window through which Bazhong will be known for the world, Luo said. 

In addition, more efforts will be made to speed up the construction of Y.C. James Yen small town and the cultural industry park, attracting more Chinese and overseas Chinese for sightseeing, leisure and vacation, as well as investment and business, he added. 

Liu said that the exchange base is an important brand to promote excellent Chinese culture and to accelerate cultural exchanges between China and other countries. 

The move aims to help inherit the spiritual core of Y.C. James Yen's civilian education and rural construction, and is of significance for local poverty alleviation, rural revitalization, and achieving the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. 

Liu added that Bazhong has a profound cultural heritage and the talents from its overseas Chinese stand out in large numbers. Bazhong needs to further study and inherit the essence of Yen's thoughts, and carry out cultural exchanges extensively in a bid to build the cultural brand of Y.C. James Yen and make greater contributions to the construction of the Sichuan-Shaanxi old revolutionary base area.