More than 170 government officials, experts and industry leaders in culture and literary fields from home and abroad gathered in Shanghai on Saturday for this year's Shanghai Global Cities Culture Forum.

They shared perspectives and viewpoints on a series of issues around modern cultural innovations while inheriting historical cultures of cities, as well as preserving their characteristics at the forum themed The Belt and Road: New Space for Urban Development, New Motivation for Cultural Development.

There will not be cultural prosperity and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation if there is no strong cultural self-confidence, General Secretary Xi Jinping said in a report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

"Cities are an important platform where talents, ideas, cultures and wealth gather," said Hu Min, deputy Party secretary of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. "How to make the innovative development of cultures play a key role in the quality growth of cities has been a significant issue that increasingly grabs people's attention," she said.

The forum, which will last through Sunday, has been held six times since 2012. It was organized by several groups, including the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Shanghai Theatre Academy.