Silk Road

The Silk Road generally refers to the important overland trade routes linking China to the West in ancient times. During the Han Dynasty in 138 B.C., Zhang Qian embarked on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, opening a gate to the West. Along the routes, merchants carried Chinese silk westward to Central Asia, West Asia, Europe, and North Africa and brought back other high value goods. Historically originating in Chang'an (today's Xi'an of Shaanxi Province) and Luoyang (today's Luoyang of Henan Province), the Silk Road crossed Gansu and Xinjiang, traversed to Central Asia and West Asia, and reached Europe and North Africa, serving as a bridge for exchange between Eastern and Western civilizations.

By serving as an important platform for exchange between multiple nationalities, ethnic groups, religions, and cultures, the Silk Road has facilitated connectivity of countries in Eurasia and cultural exchange and mutual learning between the East and West, making major contributions to human advancement. The term "Silk Road" was coined by German geologist and geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen as recently as 1877 in his book China, and it was widely disseminated since. As time went on, the Silk Road was expanded to refer to all channels for exchange between China and the West in ancient times.  In 2013, China proposed an important initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt, which drew extensive attention and received strong endorsements from the international community. In 2014, Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, a joint application by China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, was listed as a World Heritage. From the ancient Silk Road to the Belt and Road Initiative today, China has built on traditional friendship with countries along the routes and achieved fruitful results in people-to-people exchange and business cooperation.

絲綢之路

絲綢之路，一般指陸上絲綢之路，是古代連接中西方的重要商道。在公元前138年的中國漢代，張騫出使西域， 開始打通東方通往西方的道路。通過絲綢之路，商人們將中國生產的絲綢等運往中亞、西亞、歐洲和北非，再把歐洲和中亞等地的奇珍異寶輸往中國。歷史上的絲綢之路曾以長安（今陜西省西安市）、洛陽（今河南省洛陽市）為起點，經甘肅、新疆通往中亞、西亞，到達歐洲、北非，成為古代連接亞歐大陸的東西方文明交匯之路。

絲綢之路是古代多民族、多種族、多宗教、多文化的重要交往平臺，促進了亞歐大陸各國互聯互通，推動了東西方文明交流互鑒，為人類文明發展進步作出了重大貢獻。1877年，德國地質地理學家李希霍芬在《中國》一書中第一次將這條西域交通道路命名為“絲綢之路”，這一概念由此廣泛傳播。隨著時代發展，絲綢之路成為古代中國與西方各領域往來通道的統稱。2013年，中國提出共建“絲綢之路經濟帶”重大倡議，得到國際社會高度關注和積極響應。2014年，中國、哈薩克斯坦、吉爾吉斯斯坦聯合申報的陸上絲綢之路東段“絲綢之路：長安-天山廊道的路網”入選世界文化遺產。從開辟古代絲綢之路到今天共建“一帶一路”，中國與絲路沿途各國友誼源遠流長，歷久彌堅，人文交流、經貿合作碩果累累。