BEIJING, Nov. 15 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the World Chinese Language Conference, which opened in Beijing on Friday.

In his letter, Xi also congratulated the Confucius Institute on the 20th anniversary of its establishment.

Xi said the Chinese language, which encapsulates the millennia-old wisdom of the Chinese civilization, is an important public cultural product that China has contributed to the world.

China's responsibility as the native-language country is to support and facilitate the international community in conducting Chinese language education, Xi said.

Xi expressed the hope that the conference will enhance interconnection and integration, build consensus, and strive to build bridges of lingual connectivity, understanding and mutual trust, and mutual learning between civilizations, thus contributing to jointly building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Themed "Interconnection, Integration, Inheritance, Innovation," the 2024 World Chinese Language Conference is hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

The conference, running from Friday to Sunday, brought together over 2,000 participants, including government officials, school principals, experts, scholars, representatives of teachers and students, and diplomatic envoys from more than 160 countries and regions.