Silkroads News

The coordinating meeting on the S.O.C report on the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor", jointly complied by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.

Summary: The coordinating meeting on the S.O.C report on the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor", jointly complied by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.On July 24, 2019, the coordinating meeting on the S.O.C report on the "Sil


The coordinating meeting on the S.O.C report on the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor", jointly complied by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.

On July 24, 2019, the coordinating meeting on the S.O.C  report on the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor", jointly complied by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, was successfully concluded.

In 2014, the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" project, jointly declared by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was successfully included in the World Heritage List, and the Silk Road became a world cultural heritage site for the first time. At the request of the 42nd General Conference of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the project is required to submit a joint report on the conservation and management by December 2019. Entrusted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, IICC-X served as the secretariat of the Coordinating Committee on the Serial World Heritage Nomination of the Silk Roads of the three countries, holding a coordination meeting on the report on the protection and management of the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" held by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in Xi'an with the working group and experts. To discuss issues related to the joint promotion of the overall protection of the Silk Road World Heritage, as well as the preparation and submission of joint reports on protection.

The meeting was strongly supported by UNESCO and the People's Government of Xi'an. Dr. Jing Feng, Chief of Asia and the Pacific Unit of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, Professor Lu Zhou, Co-Chairman of the Coordinating Committee on the Serial World Heritage Nomination of the Silk Roads, and Mr. Song Xinchao, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, Mr. Imanaliev Kairat, Vice Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism of Kyrgyzstan, Ms. Lazzat Beisembayeva, Director of Scientific Research and Planning of State-owned Enterprises of the Republic of Kazakhstan, under the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan; Liu Yang, Deputy Director of the World Heritage Department of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China; Xiao Li, Director of the World Heritage Department; Zhou Kuiying, Deputy Director of Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural relics; Xu Mingfei, Deputy Mayor of Xi'an Municipal People's Government; and Wang Qinghua, Director of Xi'an Cultural Tourism Bureau. Yu Xi, Director of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Xi'an Foreign Affairs Office, Zhao Yun, Director of the World Heritage Center of Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, and Feng Jian, Executive Deputy Director of IICC-X and President of the Xi'an Archaeological Institute, experts and scholars from the working Group of China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan attended the meeting.

The morning meeting was presided over by Feng Jian, Executive Deputy Director of IICC-X.

Xu Mingfei, Vice Mayor of the Xi'an People's Government, pointed out in his speech that on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the successful application of the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor," China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan once again discussed the major plans for the protection of Silk Road. It will be conducive to the promotion of protection and management of the cultural heritage of the Silk Road, as well as the in-depth development of cultural exchanges and cooperation among countries along the Silk Road.

Xu Mingfei said that as the oriental starting point of the ancient Silk Road, Xi'an not only has a large number of cultural heritage sites, but also a witness to the opening and prosperity of the ancient Silk Road. In recent years, the Xi'an Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government has vigorously implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's "Belt and Road Initiative", fully excavated and integrated all kinds of historical and cultural heritage resources, and highlighted the characteristics of Xi'an as a natural history museum. With peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit as the core, we should creatively transform the cultural resources and develop the Silk Road culture and the Chinese culture, showing the spirit of the ancient capital.

Xu hoped to take this meeting as an opportunity to further strengthen international communication and exchanges, promote the development of the overall cultural relics protection in Xi'an, and build a friendly bridge between Xi'an and cities along the Silk Road. He pointed out that the successful application five years ago not only enabled Xi'an to harvest five world heritage sites, but also made the ancient city fully aware of international organizations such as IICC-X. It has greatly promoted the connotation of cultural heritage in Xi'an. The Xi'an Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government will continue to strengthen its support for IICC-X, strive to create a good working environment and policy environment for the development of IICC-X, and promote its independent development in Xi’an. What’s more, we will promote exchanges among civilizations and the process of internationalization in Xi'an, making the ancient Silk Road shine with a new era.

Mr. Imanaliev Kairat, Deputy Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism of Kyrgyzstan, said that in the past five years, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have  made great contributions to the protection, development and management of the heritages of the Silk Road and the people-to-people exchanges among the three countries. Under the World Heritage Protection system, Kyrgyzstan has taken important measures for the protection and management of heritage sites and made important contributions to its development, from national to local levels of management and scientific research institutions.

The Deputy Minister said that the meeting, as a multi-party cooperation, had received the support of relevant scientific research and management experiences, which was very important and of strategic significance. The meeting demonstrated the importance of mutual cooperation and coordination among the three countries, as well as the important cooperative relations supported by the international community.

Ms. Assel Alitanova, expert on Historical and Cultural Heritage, Department of Culture and Arts, Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan, said in her speech that there are a total of eight world heritage sites on the Silk Road in Kazakhstan. The administrative department of cultural relics in Kazakhstan attached great importance to its authenticity, integrity, humanism and its important position in the protection of cultural relics. In this process, the three countries have made great contributions and created extremely valuable knowledge and experience.

Mr. Song Xinchao, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, said that this meeting marked the establishment of a joint heritage application coordination mechanism among China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 2012. Since the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" was successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2014, the cooperation among the three governments in the protection of the cultural heritage of the Silk Road will open a new and important chapter, which will have a far-reaching impact on the overall protection of the Silk Road in the future.

Song Xinchao explained that the Silk Road is a road of exchange and dialogue, and the cultures of various countries and ethnic groups along the route integrated with each other on this road, and have made great contributions to the common prosperity of human civilization for more than 2,000 years. The "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" was the first Silk Road project to be successfully included in the World Heritage List in the form of joint declaration. It meant that the outstanding universal value, authenticity and integrity of the Silk Road were generally recognized by the World Heritage Committee and international professional advisory bodies, and that the governments of China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan needed to continue to work side by side. We should properly protect this common wealth of all mankind, make it connected by more contemporary people, make new contributions to exchanges and cooperation along the Silk Road, and inherit it for future generations.

Song Xinchao pointed out that through today's meeting, we hoped to clarify the working mechanism of the heritage management of the three countries and the project contacts and working group personnel, so as to further improve the long-term work coordination mechanism among China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Under the guidance of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the three countries help each other and work closely. In addition, China is also willing to work with more countries to undertake more work and make greater contributions to the overall protection of the cultural heritage of the Silk Road.

Dr. Jing Feng, Chief of Asia and the Pacific Unit of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, said that UNESCO attached great importance to the protection of the Silk Road cultural heritage. Over the past four decades, UNESCO has taken the lead in launching a series of ambitious initiatives aimed at strengthening intercultural dialogue and research in Central Asia.

Jing Feng said that 16 years ago, he promoted and guided a series of cross-border application projects for World Heritage Sites on the Silk Road in China and Central Asia, bringing together 15 countries to carry out international cultural undertakings. As the Silk Road extends along the entire Asian continent and constitutes some of the most outstanding and precious cultural heritage in the region, the destruction and demise of any Silk Road site will become an irreplaceable loss for mankind. These relics maintain thousands of years of international culture, showing colorful civilizations and historical spirit of different peoples, and fully respecting the social and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. The Silk Road transnational declaration of World Heritage projects in China and Central Asia aims to recognize the historical connotations as well as to accept a series of moral, cultural and spiritual values embodied by mankind.

Jing Feng highly praised the efforts made by China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in the project "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" and the example of international cooperation set in this joint declaration. This was the first breakthrough in the application of the cultural heritage of the Silk Road after more than 10 years of hard work, and proved the great progress China has made in protecting the huge and diverse cultural heritage.

In conclusion, Jing Feng stressed that IICC-X is expected to play a further role in the compilation and coordination of reports on the protection and management in the three countries as the secretariat of the Coordinating Committee on the Serial World Heritage Nomination of the Silk Roads, as well as the secretariat of the working group of China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Subsequently, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan reported on the SOC "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor".

The afternoon agenda was presided over by Lv Zhou, professor of Tsinghua University and Co-Chairman of the Coordinating Committee on the Serial World Heritage Nomination of the Silk Roads.

Mr. Feng Jian, Executive Deputy Director of IICC-X, first introduced the compilation and outline of the joint conservation situation.

Next, the parties further discussed the long-term working mechanism and the short-term action plan of the three countries and achieved important results.

Song Xinchao, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, made his concluding remarks. He said that the full day of the meeting was very fruitful, and this was another very important meeting among China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan after the successful application of the Tianshan Corridor Road Network as a world heritage, and the representatives of the three countries shared the work over the past five years.

Song said that during the whole meeting, everyone put forward different opinions and suggestions on how to carry out the next step of work and how to strengthen the cooperation among the three countries, which was very constructive and operable. In particular, I would like to thank Director Jing Feng of the World Heritage Center for his guidance and strong support from the beginning of the project to the present. He briefed you today on the origin of the Silk Road project and the existing problems. And he also put forward rare opinions and suggestions on how to promote the work from the perspective of the UNESCO World Heritage Center.

Song Xinchao also thanked experts from China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for their suggestions on the next step of work and cooperation. He said that the joint efforts of the three countries have enhanced our confidence in further protecting this world heritage site. The agreement signed by the three governments in 2012 has expressed the will and consensus to work together to protect this section of the Silk Road heritage. The success and coordinated protection mechanism of "Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor Road Network" provided useful experience for the protection of the whole world cultural heritage and the application of other corridors on the Silk Road. As a common interest body, under the condition that a good foundation of cooperation and profound friendship have been established, Song Xinchao hoped that in the face of problems in the protection and management of the "Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor" in the future, the three countries can further strengthen communication and cooperation to realize our common wish.

Song Xinchao pointed out that the UNESCO World Heritage Conference will be held in Fuzhou, China in 2020, and hoped to continue to see side meetings on the "Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor Road Network" during the conference. He said that as guardians of cultural heritage, our common responsibility was to protect the "Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor Road Network" world cultural heritage, especially to develop its social role today, which was the core of universal value. Finally, on behalf of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, Song thanked the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and the experts, as well as the preparatory work of IICC-X and the hard work of experts at home and abroad.

Also represented at the meeting were Ms. Wang Rubing, Director of the Archaeology and Museum Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage, and Ms. Bai Jing, Project Commissioner of the World Heritage Center of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage. Mr. Zholdoshov Zhumamedel, Head of the Cultural Heritage Protection and Development Branch of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism of Kyrgyzstan.

IICC-X would like to thank CMT-ART International Cultural Media (Beijing) Co., Ltd for its strong support for this meeting.

Category: English News Silkroads News
Key words:

img

Add:68 West Youyi Road,Xi'an,Shaanxi,P.R.China
Email:secretariat#iicc.org.cn
Tel:(+86)029-85246378