Silk Road cultural expo to kick off with Turkmenistan as guest of honor

Mogao Caves in Dunhuang Photo: VCG

The Sixth Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo will be held in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu Province, from September 6 to 7, it was announced at a press conference on Thursday. 

Since the beginning of 2016, the Silk Road International Cultural Expo has been held five times. 

The symposium aims to promote the all-round, multi-channel and high-level cultural exchanges and cooperation between countries along the Silk Road and China's provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. 

It consists of meetings, seminars, exhibitions, cultural performances and cultural industry promotions, serving as an important platform to enhance people-to-people exchanges. 

2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

This year, more than 1,200 guests from countries like China, ­Turkmenistan, Madagascar and Croatia as well as representatives of UNESCO will attend the opening ceremony, said Peng Yufu, vice director-general of ­International Exchanges and ­Cooperation, Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Turkmenistan will be the guest of honor, according to Xinhua News Agency.

During the upcoming expo, three major seminars will be held on smart radio and TV development, film and TV drama creation, as well as radio, TV and internet audiovisual agents. 

A seminar on Dunhuang will also be conducted. 

The Dunhuang expo is a major national-level comprehensive event themed on Silk Road international cultural exchanges. 

It will build the first "open digital database of Dunhuang" to promote the dissemination of Dunhuang culture. 

So far, 18 official accounts have been opened on overseas social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

All previous symposiums have been posted on these platforms, earning 420 million views and 1.73 million fans, said Zhang Binqiang, director of the Gansu provincial government information office.