The Japanese government Monday donated 32.1 million yen worth of free funds to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum, helping it import relics protection equipment.
Zhang Wenbin, chief of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), and Sakutaro Tanino, Japanese ambassador to China, signed the aid agreement at Beijing's Palace Museum.
The donation will help the bilateral cultural exchange between the two countries, Zhang said at the signing ceremony.
Meanwhile, the donation will be conducive to better preserve heritage in areas of ethnic minorities in west China, Zhang said.
Tanino said that Xinjiang was a meeting point of ancient Western and Eastern cultures. The Silk Road which ran through Xinjiang and its unique culture greatly influenced the Japanese people in history.
Established 43 years ago, the museum holds more than 80,000 relics items, including rare documents, silkware, tomb figures and mummies.
(People's Daily 02/27/2001)
