An agreement was signed by Xinjiang Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Zhejiang Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Zhejiang University and Tarim University for the Strategic Studies on the Cultural Heritage Preservation of Xinjiang in the annual conference held in Zhejiang University on 14th May, 2013, integrating the resources of parties concerned, gathering the experts on the cultural inheritance and innovation at home and abroad, and serving the overall strategies for the development of the nation and Xinjiang.

Sheng Chunshou, Director of Xinjiang Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Chen Guanzhong, Vice Director of Zhejiang Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Luo Weidong, Vice President of Zhejiang University and Wang Xuandong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tarim University signed the agreement at the conference.

The four parties concerned signed “The Framework Agreement for the Strategic Cooperation on the Protection and Studies of Xinjiang Cultural Heritage” on May 2012 in Urumqi. Great advances were made in the cooperative application of key projects and base construction in the past year. For example, the project “Construction and Application of Comprehensive Non-Heritage Cultural Tourism Service Systems around Tarim” was approved as the Technological Innovation Project by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the PRC and the key bidding project of the National Social and Scientific Fund. Besides, the information center of XinjiangMuseum and digital museum were under construction and the cultural heritage protection in Turpan Area was completed as planned.

Based on the agreement, the ResearchCenter for the Protection and Inheritance Development Strategies of Xinjiang Cultural Heritage will be established, and the high-level forum for the development strategy of Xinjiang cultural heritage will be held to conduct planned studies and to set up a global virtual research network centered on cultural heritage protection and inheritance studies in Xinjiang Area.

In addition, Museum of Art and Archeology of Zhejiang University, Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Xinjiang Museum, Research Institute of Cultural Heritage Archeology of Xinjiang signed an agreement on the establishment of Research Center of Central Asian Civilization. Moreover, an agreement on the talent cultivation and research base construction was signed between the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage of Zhejiang University and Xinjiang Research Institute of Kucha.

(Written by Gao Chuqing; photo taken by Zhang Yuan; translated by Xu Xueying)