Jingdezhen: Porcelain Capital Wins UNESCO World Heritage

Jingdezhen, China’s historic “Porcelain Capital” that has produced ceramics for over a millennium, was officially inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site on July 25, 2026. The designation, awarded during the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea, makes Jingdezhen China’s 61st World Heritage site and the first porcelain-themed site ever recognized on the prestigious list. The inscription was announced by Xinhua News Agency, which reported that the site was approved under UNESCO cultural criteria No. 2, 3, 4, and 6.

A Millennium of Porcelain

Located in Jiangxi Province in northeastern China, Jingdezhen has been synonymous with porcelain for over 1,000 years. Its name originates from the Jingde reign (1004–1007) of the Song Dynasty, when Emperor Zhenzong ordered imperial porcelain production there. Over the centuries, the city pioneered innovations including blue-and-white porcelain, famille-rose wares, and the development of advanced kiln designs.

The late British scholar Joseph Needham once described Jingdezhen as “the earliest industrial city in the world,” and by the mid-Ming Dynasty, its population surpassed 100,000—far larger than most contemporary European cities. The city’s porcelain was a globally traded commodity for centuries. American historian Robert Finlay estimated that 300 million pieces of Chinese porcelain, mostly from Jingdezhen, landed in Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries.

An Unprecedented Heritage Site

The officially inscribed site, named “Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites,” encompasses 1,979 hectares of heritage zone with a 5,545.7-hectare buffer zone. It includes five major clusters, 15 categories, and 45 component elements—ranging from ancient kilns and mining sites to workshops, guild halls, docks, and historic neighborhoods.

The core components span the 10th century through the 19th century—over 900 years of continuous development. They include the Town Area Porcelain Production Center, the Hutian Ancient Kiln Site, the Gaoling Porcelain Clay Mining Site (which gave the world the term “kaolin”), the Changling Porcelain Stone Mining Site, and the Jiaotan Firewood Production Area.

Wang Guangyao, a research fellow at the Palace Museum in Beijing, described the site as an “industrial living organism” that completely encompasses everything from raw material mining and transport to urban production, sales, and social organizations. Xinhua quoted him saying the completeness of its industrial chain is “extremely rare among global cultural heritage sites.”

A Decade-Long Journey to Inscription

The path to World Heritage status spanned more than a decade. Protection efforts intensified in 2015 when Chinese President Xi Jinping issued two directives on protecting the Imperial Kiln site. In 2017, the site was added to China’s World Heritage Tentative List, and in 2019, the State Council approved the Jingdezhen National Ceramic Culture Heritage and Innovation Pilot Zone.

President Xi visited Jingdezhen in 2023, stating that “ceramics are a Chinese treasure and an important symbol of Chinese civilization” and urging the city to “make the ‘Millennia Porcelain Capital’ shine brighter.” His Thought on Culture was cited as the guiding framework for the heritage application.

The final push included 15 archaeological excavations covering over 4,000 square meters, the restoration of 130 heritage buildings and 56 historic buildings, and the establishment of 36 public spaces. In January 2025, the site was officially confirmed as China’s 2026 World Heritage nomination, and by June 2026, ICOMOS had recommended direct inscription.

Completing the Cultural Triad

The inscription holds deep symbolic significance. It completes the triad of China’s three great cultural exports—silk, tea, and porcelain—now all represented on the World Heritage List. It is also China’s first industrial heritage site on the World Heritage List and only the second such site from East Asia.

“Porcelain-making technology was a unique invention of ancient China, and Jingdezhen was the culmination of ancient Chinese porcelain technology,” said Wei Qing, lead author of the nomination dossier.

Cheng Guoping, director of the Jingdezhen Ceramic Industry Heritage Protection Center, highlighted the scale of the achievement: globally, similar listed properties contain at most 22 elements, but Jingdezhen’s 45 elements form a complete handcrafted porcelain system spread across four administrative areas.

Local Impact and Global Response

Chen Kelong, Party Chief of Jingdezhen, called the inscription “a new starting point” and pledged to “safeguard the gems of ceramic culture, propel the ceramic industry with innovation and creativity, and build a new platform for cultural exchanges.”

The ceramic industry chain in Jingdezhen currently employs over 100,000 people, and the city hosted more than 39.5 million domestic tourists in 2025. At peak times, over 5,000 foreign artists—known as “foreign Jingdezhen drifters”—lived and worked in the city, drawn by its ceramic heritage and multicultural environment.

International experts praised the achievement. Oriol Calvo Vergés, President of the International Academy of Ceramics, stated that “China has demonstrated to the world that ceramics are far more than a heritage to be preserved” and can serve as “a powerful engine for urban renewal, education, tourism, innovation, artistic creation and international dialogue.”

Looking Ahead

With World Heritage status secured, Jingdezhen faces both opportunities and challenges. The expected surge in international tourism—building on 39.5 million domestic visitors in 2025—will test the balance between visitor access and site protection across 45 dispersed component sites. The city is already leveraging AI technology to build a “Digital Jingdezhen” and has invited multiple countries to co-create a “World Ceramics Interactive Map” that will allow users to trace the journey of porcelain from Jingdezhen to the world.

As Xinhua concluded, Beijing Central Axis, Western Xia Tombs, and now Jingdezhen—these additions to the World Heritage family demonstrate China’s commitment to more robust protection, systematic inheritance, and comprehensive presentation of its cultural treasures.