The First International Conference on Geoparks will be held from June 27 to 29 in Beijing.

"Preparations for the conference are going on smoothly, and more than 500 experts and government officials from 50 countries and regions will be present at the meeting," said Jiang Jianjun, secretary of the meeting's organizing committee and also director of the Department of Geological Environment under the Ministry of Land and Resources.

The conference will cover activities including an announcement of the first World Geoparks listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and forums on the protection of geographic relics and construction of geoparks.

As the first international gala for geoparks, the conference is expected to witness the promulgation of the charter of World Geopark construction and a declaration on protecting geographic relics.

The World Geopark website will open during the conference, run by an office set up in the Ministry of Land and Resources and supported by UNESCO.

UNESCO voted on the first list of World Geoparks in February this year and eight candidates in China were all put on the list. So far there are 85 national geoparks in China.

Source: Xinhua