Belt and Road Initiative is also about cultural exchanges, official says

The Belt and Road Initiative is not just about trade and investment but also cultural exchanges, which are set to bring promising changes to China's cultural ties with other initiative participants, a senior Chinese culture official said on Friday.

Xiang Zhaolun, vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture, made the remarks at a news conference on the sidelines of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Estimates suggest that, as of now, China has signed more than 300 official cooperative deals and action plans on cultural exchanges with participating nations, said Xiang.

Having established multilateral cultural cooperation mechanisms with east European and Arab nations and ASEAN economies, China is in alliance with a number of initiative participants in terms of Silk Road-themed theaters and museums, according to Xiang.

Sinologists and young scholars across the world will be given more opportunities to visit China and attend advanced courses on Chinese culture to help them better understand China, said Xiang.

China welcomes foreign works of literature and movie products to be translated into the Chinese language and introduced to the Chinese market, and will do the same for countries involved in the initiative, he added.

There is a huge potential left untapped in two-way investment in industries such as gaming and cartoons, as well as the joint protection of cultural heritages, said Xiang.

“We have engaged in archaeological cooperation with 15 countries along the Belt and Road routes, and the list of partners will become longer in the years to come," he said.