China's flagship cultural forum signed up China Daily on Tuesday to exploit the media group's strength in enhancing global cultural exchanges as well as the nation's soft power.

Tying the knot is an "inevitable choice" for both parties when faced with the challenges of the time, and is an essential way to seek common development, according to Yan Zhaozhu, president of Taihu World Cultural Forum, a Chinese NGO devoted to promoting Chinese culture and a platform for international non-government exchanges.

"The partnership will help make Chinese voices heard, and contribute Chinese wisdom to the world," he said.

Yan was speaking at the signing ceremony for the forum and the national newspaper. The ceremony was followed by a news conference for the forum's fifth annual conference, to be held in Beijing in October.

The three-day conference is expected to see around 800 global participants including government officials, scholars and entrepreneurs. The theme for this year is "Cultural Dialogue — Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind".

Participants will discuss various topics ranging from international relations, economy, culture, ecology, the Belt and Road Initiative, the internet, philosophy, sociology and traditional medicine.

Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the shared vision to promote Chinese culture and soft power has laid the foundation for the cooperation, and their respective strengths will provide tremendous momentum.

"In the future, we'll integrate our resources and complement each other with our advantages to develop the forum and related projects," he said. "We'll strive for a high-quality forum and continue to launch new cultural products."

China Daily, an important platform for the world to understand China, reaches an audience of more than 150 million worldwide on various platforms.