The Silk Road promoted dialogues, communication and integration between the East and the West. For over More than two millennia, it has contributed greatly to the prosperity and development of the mankind. In 2013, President Xi Jinping raised the initiative of jointly building “the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”, which have attracted close attention and gained world-wide approval. In May 2017, at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, President Xi Jinping put forward the Silk Road Spirit，which is “peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit". It is a historic and cultural heritage shared by all countries around the world.

The Silk Road is international. On June 22, 2014, at the 38th Session of the World Heritage Committee, “Silk Road: The Routes Network of Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor” was inscribed on the World Heritage List through the joint application of China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Hence, on June 22, 2019, upon the fifth anniversary of the inscription of the Silk Road cultural heritage，relevant cultural institutions and museums gather here in Hangzhou China to put forward the Initiative for Dissemination and Promotion of the Silk Road Spirit. 

We propose every year in the week when June 22 falls upon:

Heritage sites along the Silk Road, relevant cultural institutions and museums should hold or host Silk Road theme activity series, such as exhibitions, presentations, seminars and knowledge contests. We should make good use of means of publicity to promote world-wide intercultural dialogues. 

We should establish the Silk Road cultural exchanges and cooperation mechanisms, promote the Silk Road Heritage research, protection and exhibition programs, better tap and recognize the contents and value of the Silk Road, strengthen the protection of the Silk Road sites and relics.

We believe, the Silk Road theme activities will display the Silk Road impact on the prosperity and development of the countries alongside and its contribution to human civilizations. We will promote the Silk Road Spirit publicity, present the Silk Road stories to strengthen the communication between civilizations and people-to-people connectivity.

The International Association for the Study of Silk Road Textiles

The China Silk Museum Silk Road Committee

June 21，2019