The Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies was inaugurated on Aug 25 in Nishan, the birthplace of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong province, to build a global platform for the research and study of Confucianism.

Supported and founded by the Ministry of Education, the Shandong Provincial People's Government and relevant educational research institutions, the center, which is headquartered in Nishan, will build several branches at home and abroad to carry out academic research, talent cultivation, communication, and international cooperation.

Wang Xuedian, executive vice-president of the Advanced Institute of Confucian Studies at Shandong University, said, "With China's comprehensive national strength increasing, it's inevitable that the world's center of Confucian studies returns to its homeland."

Chen Lai, director of the Academy of Chinese Learning at Tsinghua University, said that as Nishan is the hometown of the great philosopher, it is a solid choice to establish the Confucian center here, heralding a new age of Confucianism research and development.

Confucianism originated in China, Wang said, but for a long time, especially during the 1980s and 90s, people went overseas to study Confucianism, as well as other Chinese classics.

"But now, most of the world-renowned experts on Chinese traditional culture choose to do research in China, so it's time to establish such an open and inclusive center to promote the development of Chinese traditional culture which meets the new era social development," Wang said.

After the establishment of the Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies, it will tap into the connotation of Confucianism, lead the development direction of Confucian studies, and build Nishan into a highland for Confucian studies and academic exchanges.