EU Cultural Counsellor to China Mr.Marcin Grabiec delivered an opening speech at the 5th International Symposium on Cultural Heritage Conservation and Digitization (CHCD 2018), Beijing 13-14 September 2018 at Tsinghua University. The aim of the European Year of Cultural Heritage is to encourage more people to discover and engage with Europe's cultural heritage, and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. But all the many initiatives organised in EU member states – well over 2500, involving a million people – also underline how important culture and cultural heritage are in boosting innovation, economic growth and competitiveness.