China will cultivate 5 to 10 Sino-foreign joint archaeological demonstration projects during the 15th Five-Year Plan

China News Service, Beijing, October 31 (Reporter Ying Ni) The reporter learned from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China on October 31 that the "Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for Archaeological Work" (referred to as the "Plan") recently issued by the Administration proposed to cultivate 5 to 10 joint Sino-foreign archaeological demonstration projects.

The main goals proposed in the plan are: the archaeological management system and mechanism will be more complete, the construction of key archaeological institutions will achieve positive results, and the talent team structure will be more optimized. New progress has been made in the research and theoretical construction of major historical issues, multi-disciplinary cooperation has been normalized, and the archaeological academic system and discipline system have been further improved. The interpretation and transformation of archaeological results are more efficient, international academic exchanges are more active, and Chinese archeology has made greater contributions to enhancing the influence of Chinese culture and building Chinese discourse and Chinese narrative systems.

On July 8, young students learned about the inspection and protection of the ruins at the Liangzhu Ancient City Heritage Park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Photo by China News Service reporter Wu Junyi

In terms of expanding international cooperation in archaeology, we plan to launch a number of joint Sino-foreign archaeological projects that are highly academic. The major projects of "Archaeology of China" and the Xia and Shang Civilization Research Project are opened to the outside world, and international exchange platforms are built based on Liangzhu, Erlitou, Sanxingdui, Liulihe and other sites. Under the framework of the Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Alliance, we continue to carry out archaeological research, cultural relic protection, talent training and other work. Promote the mutual translation and introduction of important archaeological reports and academic treatises.

The plan focuses on jointly building the “Belt and Road” countries, supporting domestic archaeological institutions and universities to conduct joint archaeological and academic exchanges abroad, and exploring transnational large-region research models such as Central Asia, North Asia, Northeast Asia, and Southeast Asia. Actively carry out joint archeology of Austronesian languages, the Himalayan region, the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, as well as research on ancient Egyptian civilization, Greek civilization, and Mayan civilization, and cooperate with Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Egypt, Greece and other countries to carry out underwater archeology and cultural heritage protection. Cultivate 5 to 10 Sino-foreign joint archaeological demonstration projects, establish and improve the management system of Sino-foreign joint archaeological work, and enhance the academic, forward-looking and sustainable nature of Sino-foreign joint archaeological work.