On the morning of June 9th, Shaanxi Provincial Silk Road Archaeological Centre was inaugurated at NWU. Guanghua Fang , Vice Governor of Shaanxi provincial government, as well as all NWU authorities, attended the event.
The speech of President Xi Jinpin, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Military Commission, who recently inspected Shaanxi province, was studied by all participants at the event. President Xi’s instruction to NWU’s Central Asian Archaeology Team on staying true to the original aspiration and founding mission, was also shared during the meeting.
NWU’s President Guo brought the university’s latest accomplishment of the main work which focuses on President Xi’s warm wishes for our Central Asian Archaeology Team to all attendees. President Guo stressed that NWU would, with President Xi’s instruction in mind, implement the decisions of Shaanxi provincial government on building NWU into a first-class university with first-class disciplines (the “Double First-class Initiative”) and serving the development of Shaanxi province and China. Driven by President Xi’s call to cordially serve the country, NWU will provide strong support for the development of our Central Asian Archaeology Team, speed up the process of making NWU’s Archaeology a world-class discipline, and enhance its ability to implement “Double First-class Initiative” and serve regional development.
A cooperation agreement was signed by Wenli Luo, the director of Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration, and President Guo. Yang Gao, deputy secretary general of the Shaanxi provincial government, Jianli Wang, superintendent of Education Department of Provincial Governent, Director Wenli Luo, as well as President Guo, jointly announced the establishment of Shaanxi Provincial Silk Road Archaeological Centre.
The centre will coordinate archaeological work of countries along the Silk Road and ensure all work will be carried out successfully. President Guo issued the letter of appointment to the director of this research organization, Prof. Rong Zhao. Director Wenli Luo presented the certificate of appointment to Prof. Jianxin Wang, the present head of Central Asian Archaeology Team, also the chief scientist of the centre.
Then, Prof. Jianxin Wang reported NWU’s latest progress on archaeological work in central Asia and introduced the plan for future work.
Vice Governor Guanghua Fang of Shaanxi provincial government noted that related government departments should provide policy support to the centre in terms of finance and project application, and work in concert to facilitate fruitful results of the centre. Vice Governor Fang stressed better protection and display of the province’s cultural heritage, noting that proactive efforts should be made to help build national cultural parks for the Long March, the Great Wall and other cultural heritages, and to creatively adapt the Chinese civilization to seek new progress. He also called on all participants to promote the spirits of universities in China, enhance education provided by NWU, a university under the administration of Shaanxi province, and take the initiative to serve both regional and national socio-economic development. In this way, he concluded, we will together write a new chapter for Shaanxi province in pursuing steadfast development in the new era.