On July 30, China inaugurated the National Archives of Publications and Culture for preserving bibliographical resources.

This is the latest effort by the Chinese authorities to boost the preservation of cultural relics and promote the drawing of wisdom from the country's history to gain the historical initiative in blazing the path to a better future.

After three years of construction, the project comprises archives in Beijing and three branches in Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province and Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong province.

China IPPR International Engineering Co Ltd (IPPR), a subsidiary of Sinomach, laid the groundwork for the headquarters of the National Archives of Publications and Culture in Beijing and the branch in Xi'an, and another subsidiary, China United Engineering Corporation Limited (CUC), was tasked with the whole process of engineering consultation for the Hangzhou branch.

Located at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, the headquarters of the institute in Beijing has reserved more than 16 million copies of historical texts and tens of thousands of exhibits across 10 major categories.

The central location in Beijing will take the lead in coordinating national publication resource planning, while the three branches will gather and cover publication resources in different regions on the local level.

Unlike the Beijing headquarters that stores some of China's most notable cultural legacies, the Xi'an branch focuses in particular on China's Northwest culture, and especially that of the cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty (618-907), while the Guangzhou branch zeros in on China's Lingnan culture, which encompasses iconic heritages such as Cantonese Opera. Hangzhou assumes the responsibility of preserving the Jiangnan culture of the eastern part of China.

All three branches have multiple sections that serve as not only exhibition halls, but also libraries, archives and art museums.

The Xi'an branch holds an estimated 2.09 million copies of historical texts and 160 terabytes of digital resources. The Guangzhou branch covers an area of 246,900 square meters and can store about 2.65 million texts, while the Hangzhou complex, made up of 13 units, has received a total of 1 million important texts such as The Communist Manifesto in various languages donated by local bureaus, government offices, and private collectors.

Xi'an is the oldest of China's four great ancient capitals and the starting point for the ancient Silk Road. The IPPR has given sufficient consideration to functional orientation and local identities of the Xi'an branch, and introduced the local archives related to countries along the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

The architectural style of the Hangzhou branch features a "contemporary book collection building with the charm of gardens of the Song Dynasty (960-1279)" that has a total construction area of 103,100 square meters and 13 units.

The branch is located at Liangzhu, known for its abundance of ceremonial jade, indicating a complex ritual system and the combined authority of deities and kings. The archaeological ruins of Liangzhu, the oldest of which go back 5,300 years, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2019.

The branch in Hangzhou has functions of preservation, display, research, and exchange. It is a comprehensive venue integrating the functions of libraries, museums, art galleries, archives, and exhibition halls. It also serves as a backup in case of the headquarters' need, a warehouse of publications and culture with the characteristics of regions south of the Yangtze River, and a cluster platform for publications and culture resources in East China.

Photos taken from different angles show views of the Xi'an branch of the National Archives of Publications and Culture in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/CUC]

The national archives are a cultural treasure to be handed down to future generations, and they serve as a general database of national bibliographical resources and the Chinese culture seed gene bank.

The archives, including their collections and exhibitions, should promote cultural confidence, carry forward Chinese culture, present a strong cultural image and promote dialogue and mutual learning among the world's civilizations.