Photo: Courtesy of the Culture and Tourism Department in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

 Chinese government institutions have spent more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) to support the cultural industry of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region since 2014, officials revealed at a conference held in Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang, on Friday.

According to the Culture and Tourism Department in Xinjiang, China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) and other supporting provinces and cities have helped Xinjiang train more than 1,000 professionals in cultural relic protection, restoration and management for museums in Xinjiang over the past five years.

Chinese cultural institutions also helped to created more than 100,000 jobs as well as increasing local revenue by more than 50 million yuan in total.

Statistics show that Xinjiang has 9,542 immovable cultural relics, which include six world cultural heritage sites, as well as 133 national-level key cultural relics protection sites and 620 regional-level cultural relics protection sites. Three archaeological sites were selected into China’s top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2017-19.   

The region’s 92 museums (including two national-level first-class museums) boast a total of 450,000 cultural relics. The number of free-to-visit museums in Xinjiang has also increased from 32 to 81 with the number of annual visitors reaching 5 million. 

With the support of the central government, the construction of the main section of the second phase of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum has been completed and will be opened on July 1.

Li Qun, head of NCHA, said at the conference that the region’s rich and magnificent cultural heritage has witnessed the integration and development of various Chinese ethnic groups and also demonstrates the close connection between the ethnic culture of Xinjiang and the culture of the Central Plains area of China.

It is important to promote ethnic unity and maintain the unity of the motherland. The cultural foundation is of great importance to inherite Chinese cultural genes, forging a sense of community within the Chinese nation and realizing the overall goal of social stability and long-term stability in Xinjiang, according to the department. 

Global Times