On December 3, Zhang Aijun, Secretary of the CPC Zhaoqing Municipal Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of Zhaoqing Municipal People’s Congress, carried out special research on the development of Duan inkstone culture. He thoroughly studied and implemented the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches and instructions during his inspection tour in Guangdong, and researched and promoted the protection, inheritance and innovative development of Duan inkstone culture.
On December 3, 2025, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Zhang Aijun inspected Duan Inkstone Culture Village. Photo by Liu Chunlin, reporter from Zhaoqing Municipal Convergence Media Center.
Shuikou Community in Jindu Town, Gaoyao District is known as the “source of Duan inkstones”. Following the development concept of “one museum and one park driving a hundred workshops”, it has built the Jindu Inkstone Art Creative Park integrating Duan inkstone exhibition, sales and live streaming; Located in Duanzhou District, Duan Inkstone Culture Village was built on the original site of Baishi Village, the “No.1 Duan Inkstone Village in China”, with Duan inkstone cultural industry as its core. Recently, it has focused on the construction of projects such as Duan Inkstone Research Institute, Duan Inkstone Cultural and Creative Collection, and Duan Inkstone Forest of Steles Museum; The Art Museum of Zhaoqing University is holding the “2nd Invitational Exhibition of Inkstone Innovation and Creativity and Exhibition of Contemporary High-quality Duan Inkstones with Ingenuity Inheritance”, displaying inkstones and cultural and creative works from all over the country covering multiple inkstone types to the audience. Zhang Aijun successively went deep into the above research sites, made a detailed understanding of the inheritance of traditional inkstone-making techniques, the development of Duan inkstone cultural industry, the improvement of the style of inkstone villages, and the planning and construction of Duan inkstone exhibition halls. He also presided over a forum and had in-depth exchanges with the responsible persons of universities, departments and associations around the theme of “taking inkstones as the link to connect scattered resources into a chain and accelerating the creation of a Duan inkstone cultural cluster highlighting Chinese cultural characteristics”.
Zhang Aijun emphasized that Duan inkstone is an indispensable historical and cultural treasure of Zhaoqing and an important carrier for showing Zhaoqing’s image and telling Zhaoqing’s stories to the outside world. We must cherish this precious cultural card, further do a good job in the protection, inheritance and activated utilization of Duan inkstone culture, promote the new leap forward in the development of Duan inkstone culture, and make the card of “the Capital of Chinese Inkstones” more valuable and brilliant.
- We should establish a higher-level coordination mechanism, give play to the leading role of publicity, culture, radio, television, tourism and sports departments, strengthen efficient cross-regional and multi-level linkage, and improve the coordination and overall synergy of the development of Duan inkstone culture.
- We should draw up a higher-level plan, and scientifically formulate the development route of Duan inkstone culture based on the present and the future in combination with the formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan.
- We should build a more spiritual and physical Duan inkstone cultural cluster, take Duan inkstones as the link, promote the connection of mining and processing, cultural inheritance, and relevant nodes such as traditional villages and tourist attractions into chains and clusters, and continuously improve the practical value, aesthetic value and economic value of Duan inkstones.
- We should build a stronger team of famous teachers and craftsmen, strengthen policy support and guidance, construct a craftsman talent development system of “selection, training, incentive and inheritance”, and inject new vitality into Duan inkstone craftsmanship.
- We should build a number of more popular tourist spots, focus on intensive resource aggregation, high-quality product creation, rich business format experience and innovative scenario traffic attraction, and create new highlights of immersive Duan inkstone cultural experience.
- We should build a number of more informative research and study bases, make full use of the platform resources of universities and industry associations, do a good job in the inheritance and innovation of Duan inkstone culture through research and study tourism, and promote the development of Duan inkstone culture from “selling resources and products” to “selling services and experiences”.
- We should hold a series of more attractive professional exhibitions, focus on highlighting characteristics and empowering creativity, continuously enrich the contents of skill displays, theoretical discussions, product transactions and other links, strive to build an inkstone exhibition brand with Zhaoqing characteristics, and help the high-quality development of the Duan inkstone industry.
- We should establish a more complete narrative system, fully excavate and sort out the historical records, character allusions and cultural works related to Duan inkstones, and tell the stories of Duan inkstones in a more three-dimensional, vivid, in-depth and warm way.
- We should form a more complete theoretical system, rely on carriers such as universities, research institutes and industry associations, strengthen academic research and creation on Duan inkstone culture, develop characteristic professional disciplines, and continuously enrich and expand the connotation of Duan inkstone culture development.
- We should provide a series of stronger guarantee support, mobilize the forces of all sectors of society, improve the diversified investment mechanism, and inject a steady stream of vitality and momentum into the development of Duan inkstone culture.
Municipal leaders Liu Haibin and Yan Hongyu, as well as Li Qin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Zhaoqing University, participated in the activity.
