Dancers in silk costumes perform at the opening ceremony of the Silk Road Week in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on June 19, 2020. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

This year's Silk Road Week, titled "The Silk Roads: Mutual Learning for Future Collaboration", kicked off on Friday at the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

Hosted by the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Zhejiang provincial government, the event is the first edition of the annual Silk Road Week, which was proposed in June 2019 to honor the Silk Road spirit and is expected to take place every June in China and other countries along the road.

Zhu Guoxian, head of the publicity department in Zhejiang, addressed the opening ceremony, saying mutual learning is crucial to international exchanges and cooperation today, and expressed confidence the ancient Silk Road would be restored to its former glory.

Mechtild Rössler, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, said in a video the week's theme echoes the spirit of the World Heritage Convention announced in 1972, and the Silk Road will lay a solid foundation for future collaboration.

The opening ceremony of the 2020 Silk Road Week was held at the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on June 19, 2020. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

At the opening ceremony, the "World Map of Silk Projects", supported by UNESCO and formed through international efforts, was launched. It is aimed at integrating all the resources and information on silk heritage and offering a clear and straightforward platform for the history of silk development, exchanges along the Silk Road and the manufacture of the silk industry.

Organizers also announced the release of the "Annual Report on Silk Road Cultural Heritage 2019", an academic document about the major Silk Road events in 2019 rolled out by 31 experts from nine countries.

Two temporary exhibitions called The Silk Roads: Before and After Richthofen and Mutual Learning on the Silk Roads: Stories of the Silk Road Treasures, were unveiled with the opening of Silk Road Week, bringing to life ancient cultural relics and stories from along the road.

In upcoming days, a series of silk-related activities will be held in the province, including a seminar encouraging museum curators to explore different aspects of the Silk Road from June 20-22.

Visitors appreciate a cultural relic at the exhibition The Silk Roads: Before and After Richthofen at China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on June 19, 2020.