China and Japan will cooperate in training 100 specialists for protecting the cultural heritage along the Silk Road in the coming five years.

 

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) of China and the Foundation for Cultural Heritage and Art Research, a non-governmental organization of Japan, signed an agreement in Beijing on Monday.

 

According to the agreement, the Japanese side will invest 150 million Japanese yen (about US$1.28 million) in the joint training project.

 

"The special training program for protecting the Silk Road is the first of its kind in China, and will be carried out by state-level research institutes of the two countries," said Zhang Tinghao, head of China Cultural Relics Research Institute.

 

Those working in the cultural heritage protection organizations along the Silk Road in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan, especially young and middle-aged specialists, will be chosen to join the project.

 

The training will include classes cultural heritage protection theory, experiments in labs and field teaching in the protection of earth relics, ancient buildings, archaeological sites, pottery and porcelain, metal objects, murals, textiles and paper relics.

 

The Silk Road, which started in the ancient Chinese metropolis Chang'an, known today as Xi'an, ended in Rome. It traversed 6,440 kilometers through China and central Asia and became the nexus between different civilizations in ancient Europe and Asia.

 

However, lots of cultural heritage along the ancient route is under threat of destruction from natural and human factors.

 

SACH has announced that it is joining hands with other countries to apply for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to include the Silk Road into the World Heritage List.

 

"The Sino-Japanese training project is aimed at upgrading the expertise of the cultural heritage specialists along the Silk Road and giving better protection to the cultural heritage along the Silk Road," said Hou Jukun, an official with SACH.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2006)