China to build national heritage route on ancient Silk Road

LANZHOU, June 10 (Xinhua) -- China plans to build its first national heritage route along the historically significant Hexi Corridor, located in northwest China, within the next ten years. The route is part of the country's goal to strengthen the protection, inheritance and utilization of cultural and natural heritage.

On Tuesday, the implementation plan for the construction of a national heritage route along the Hexi Corridor was released at a news conference held in northwest China's Gansu Province.

According to He Xiaozu, head of the provincial culture and tourism department, Gansu will implement a series of projects focused on heritage protection and utilization, infrastructure construction, tourism industry layout, and international exchanges and cooperation. These projects will encompass a total of 52 representative cultural and natural heritages and 20 national-level intangible cultural heritage projects along the Hexi Corridor.

A total of 610 million yuan (84.9 million U.S. dollars) will be invested to promote the implementation of 120 specific tasks related to the route construction, He said.

Over the years, China has done a great deal of work in the protection and utilization of cultural heritage along the Hexi Corridor. For example, in terms of the Great Wall culture, the Chinese government has cumulatively invested 540 million yuan and promoted the implementation of more than 110 Great Wall protection and maintenance projects.

The Hexi Corridor, part of the ancient Silk Road and stretching over a distance of nearly 1,000 kilometers in Gansu, is home to five UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 53 grottoes.

"The route will be built in adherence to the principle of minimum intervention, and will become an important platform for China to share cultural achievements with the world and promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations," said Qiu Jian, head of the Gansu provincial cultural heritage bureau. ■