Academic advisors of the new Institute of Cultural Heritage & Innovative Design and other participants at the official opening in Beijing, March 5, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Tsinghua University has opened a research institute dedicated to preserving Chinese culture and creative design in collaboration with well-known Chinese brands led by ink maker Yi De Ge.

At the official opening of the Institute of Cultural Heritage & Innovative Design, Tsinghua University dean of the Academy of Arts & Design, Lu Xiaobo, said they had been preparing for the opening for one year.

The new institute aims to pass on traditional Chinese culture, carry forward Chinese wisdom and develop China's culture in a more creative way.

The research institute is also a response to the central government's guidelines on preserving and developing excellent traditional culture, issued in January this year, Lu added.

"We take part in and support the founding of the new institute, hoping to improve the competitiveness of China's honored brands by design innovation and to contribute our power in invigorating the Chinese nation," Yi De Ge director Meng Fanshao, who is also deputy director of the new institute, said.

Institute director Ma Sai said they will conduct targeted research on the tradition inheritance and innovation design of Chinese culture, foster leading figures in traditional cultural industries and build an inheritance system of excellent traditional culture in the future.

More than 200 guests from government bodies, social organizations, the education system, scientific research institutions and other enterprises attended the opening on Sunday.

Lu Xiaobo, the dean of Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts & Design speaks at the opening ceremony of the new institute in Beijing, March 5, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yi De Ge director Meng Fanshao, who is also the deputy director of the Institute of Cultural Heritage & Innovative Design speaks at the ceremony in Beijing, March 5, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Institute director Ma Sai speaks at the ceremony at Tsinghua University, Beijing, March 5, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]