China offers heritage preservation expertise, technology to Pakistan

Islamabad: Cultural counsellor at the Embassy of China Chen Peng Monday said that his country was willing to share its experience and technologies in cultural heritage preservation with Pakistan, while respecting and learning from the local cultural traditions.

The four-day course is organised by the China Cultural Centre in Pakistan and the Department of Archaeology and Museums, with the Pakistan-China Cultural and Economic Promotion Association as co-organiser.

Around 50 Chinese and Pakistani guests, students and staff are participating in the programme.

The course aims to establish a long-term platform for cultural exchange between Chinese and Pakistani youth while introducing participants to the Chinese language, calligraphy, traditional festivals, cuisine and other aspects of Chinese culture.

“We’ve accumulated extensive experience in the protection of cave temples, earthen sites and stone cultural heritage and are willing to cooperate with Pakistani experts in areas including 3D scanning, digital modelling and the digital preservation of museum collections,” Peng told the opening ceremony of the Chinese Language & Chinese Culture Experience Course at the Department of Archaeology and Museums.

Peng underscored the importance of cultural exchange and mutual learning in preserving cultural heritage, noting that Pakistan and China shared deep historical and cultural links, with the Silk Road serving as a powerful connection between the two civilisations.

He said cooperation between Pakistan and China in archaeology and cultural heritage preservation had yielded encouraging results. He referred to the exhibition of 173 Pakistani cultural relics at the Forbidden City in Beijing in 2023, describing it as the largest Gandhara art exhibition to date.

He also highlighted cooperation between the Department of Archaeology and Museums and Peking University, including plans to establish a joint laboratory for collaboration on the preservation of Taxila’s cultural heritage.

The Chinese cultural counsellor said China believed in the principle of “harmony in diversity”, emphasising respect for the unique value and traditions of every civilisation. He also highlighted the “Gandhara Guardians” project, jointly initiated by Chinese and Pakistani scholars, as an example of how education and community engagement could help protect historical sites.

Mr Peng expressed hope for stronger cooperation between the archaeological and cultural heritage communities of the two countries in joint archaeological excavations, conservation and restoration, heritage digitisation, academic exchanges and World Heritage nomination and management.

National heritage and culture minister Aurangzeb Khan Khichi also attended the event and said Pakistan and China enjoyed an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and a strong friendship.

He said political, economic and infrastructural ties, including cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, remained strong, but the true foundation of the bilateral relationship lay in people-to-people contacts and cultural exchange.