FUZHOU -- Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on Friday stressed international cooperation to protect world heritage.

Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when addressing the opening of the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO. It was held in Fuzhou, the capital of East China's Fujian province.

In recent years, China has been promoting the work of heritage protection along with cultural industries, ecological development, and the poverty alleviation cause, Sun said. She noted that the country is developing a nature reserves system composed mainly of national parks and combating crimes involving cultural relics.

Sun said China is willing to work with UNESCO to build educational platforms for world heritage and help cultivate heritage protection skills for developing countries.

China will also support UNESCO in implementing the Priority Africa strategy in terms of world heritage, Sun noted.