Quanzhou's inscription onto the World Heritage List reflects the great recognition from the World Heritage Committee on Quanzhou's outstanding universal value as a window for economic and cultural exchanges.

"Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China" was accepted as a cultural property on UNESCO World Heritage List at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee on Sunday, bringing the total number of China's UNESCO World Heritage sites to 56.

"It reflects greatly the spatial structure that combined production, transportation and marketing. It demonstrates the key institutional, social and cultural factors that contributed to the spectacular rise and prosperity of Quanzhou as a maritime hub of the East and Southeast Asia trade network during the 10th to 14th centuries AD," said a report by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the committee's official advisory body. According to the criteria included in the "Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage," the World Heritage Committee made the decision to include "Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China" in the World Heritage List.

Wang Ning, governor of Fujian province, attended the session and witnessed Quanzhou city winning the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status. Li Qun, vice minister of culture and tourism and director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, Yang Jin, leader of the Chinese delegation and China's Ambassador to UNESCO, and Wang Yongli, Party chief of Quanzhou city, offered remarks at the session and expressed their appreciations.