The Yangzhou section of the Grand Canal has been in existence for 2,500 years. It makes Yangzhou a global city of canal cultures and is becoming part of the cultural development strategy of Yangzhou city.
The 38th World Heritage Convention was held in Doha, Qatar, in June 2014. At the convention, China’s Grand Canal was approved as a world heritage, and Yangzhou, the city that led the application, enjoyed primacy for this success as the “First City of Canal”.
The secretariat of the World Historic and Cultural Canal Cities Cooperation Organization (WCCO) set up its permanent base in Yangzhou last April. WCCO was founded in 2009 and currently has 105 members dominated by domestic and foreign canal cities. It is the only international social organization in Jiangsu province and also the only international non-governmental organization in the canal sector.
