The 10th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations is underway in Nishan, Qufu City, Shandong Province. During the opening ceremony, former Vice President of Seychelles and Chairman of the Association for the Promotion of Friendship between Seychelles and China Vincent Meriton delivered a speech. He highlighted that Shandong, the birthplace of Confucius – one of China's greatest scholars and one of the world's most renowned philosophers and educators – holds a special place in global intellectual history.