I. Significance, guiding ideology, objectives and tasks of implementing the western development.
Implementing the strategy of developing the western region is to thoroughly implement Theory of Three Represents's great practice, a major deployment to build a well-off society in an all-round way and ensure the smooth realization of the third-step strategic goal of modernization, an important measure to promote the common development and common prosperity of all ethnic groups, a necessary measure to ensure border consolidation and national security, and a major measure related to the overall situation of national economic and social development. It is conducive to promoting the strategic adjustment of economic structure and promoting the coordinated development of regional economy; It is conducive to improving the ecological situation of the whole country and creating a better environment for the survival and development of the Chinese nation; It is conducive to cultivating a unified national market and improving the socialist market economic system; It is conducive to further opening up and making good use of both domestic and foreign markets and resources, and has important practical significance and far-reaching historical influence.
The guiding ideology of the western development is to fully implement the spirit of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and Theory of Three Represents, and conscientiously implement the strategic deployment, principles, policies and key tasks of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on the implementation of the western development in accordance with the objectives, tasks and requirements of improving the socialist market economic system. Adhere to emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, and constantly explore new ways to develop the western region in accordance with the reform direction of the socialist market economy. Adhere to people-oriented, establish a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development concept, and promote the coordination of economic development with ecological environment and social progress in accordance with the requirements of "five overall plans" to promote the all-round development of economy, society and people. Persist in proceeding from reality, be proactive, act according to one's abilities, and solve major issues that have a bearing on the overall situation in a focused and step-by-step manner. Adhere to the combination of self-reliance, hard struggle and national policy support in the western region, give greater play to the basic role of the market in allocating resources, and continuously enhance the self-development ability of the western region.
Implementing the western development is a long-term and arduous historical task, and it is also a large-scale systematic project. We should not only have a sense of urgency, but also be mentally prepared for long-term struggle. The overall strategic goal is: through the efforts of several generations, by the middle of 2 1 century, the whole country will basically realize modernization, fundamentally change the relatively backward face of the western region, and strive to build a new western region with beautiful mountains and rivers, economic prosperity, social progress, national unity and rich people. Before the 20th century 10, breakthroughs were made in the construction of infrastructure and ecological environment in the western region, with the development of characteristic economy and advantageous industries, the pace of development in key areas was obviously accelerated, social undertakings such as science and technology, education, health and culture were obviously strengthened, a new situation emerged in reform and opening up, and people's lives were further improved, which laid a solid foundation for implementing the strategy of developing the western region.
At present and in the future, it is an important strategic opportunity period for the western region to deepen reform, expand opening up and accelerate development. Pay attention to the construction of infrastructure and ecological environment; Actively develop industries with distinctive advantages and promote the development of key regions; Develop science and technology education, train and make good use of all kinds of talents; The state should increase its support for the western region in terms of investment projects, tax policies and financial transfer payments, and gradually establish long-term and stable channels of funds for the development of the western region; Strive to improve the investment environment and guide foreign capital and domestic capital to participate in the development of the western region; The western region should further emancipate its mind, enhance its self-development ability, and embark on a new path of accelerating development in the process of reform and opening up.
Second, the main progress of the western development in the past four years
On June 5438+ 10, 2000, the CPC Central Committee put forward clear requirements for implementing the strategy of developing the western region, and the State Council established a leading group for developing the western region. Leading comrades of the party and the state have visited the western region many times and presided over symposiums, giving important instructions on a series of major issues in the development of the western region. The State Council has successively issued Several Policies and Measures on Implementing the Western Development, Several Opinions on Further Improving the Pilot Work of Returning Farmland to Forests and Grasslands, and Several Opinions on Further Improving the Policies and Measures of Returning Farmland to Forests. The General Office of the Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Ten-year Plan for Talent Development in the Western Region. The General Office of the State Council forwarded the Opinions on Implementing Several Policies and Measures for the Development of Western the State Council. With the approval of the State Council, the State Planning Commission and the the State Council Western Development Office issued the Tenth Five-Year Plan for the Western Development. The state has increased financial transfer payments to the western region, totaling more than 400 billion yuan in four years.
Over the past four years, under the correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and through the joint efforts of cadres and masses in various regions and departments, especially in the western region, important progress has been made in the large-scale development of the western region, investment and economy in the western region have accelerated, and urban and rural areas have taken on a new look. From 2000 to 2003, the GDP increased by 8.5%, 8.7%, 9.9% and 1 1.2% respectively, which was significantly faster than the 7.2% of 1999. The growth rate of investment in fixed assets has greatly increased, reaching 30.7% in 2003.
(1) National policies and measures are tilted towards the western region, and substantial steps have been taken in infrastructure construction. In the four years since the implementation of the strategy of developing the western region, the state has increased its investment in construction funds in the western region. The central financial construction funds are used for the development of the western region of about 360 billion yuan, of which more than 220 billion yuan is used for the long-term construction of national debt. The loan balance of financial institutions in the western region increased by more than 950 billion yuan. The state has started 50 new key projects in the western region with a total investment of more than 730 billion yuan. Among them, the investment in key infrastructure projects exceeds 200 billion yuan. Track laying of the new line of Qinghai-Tibet Railway is 317km; The East Section of the West-East Gas Transmission Project has been fully completed, and commercial gas has been supplied to four provinces and one city in East China. The newly started power transmission project from west to east has a total installed capacity of more than 28 million kilowatts, and more than 9,800 kilometers of power transmission and transformation lines have been built. 43 large reservoirs have been built and rebuilt, and the comprehensive management of Tarim River and Heihe River has achieved initial results, and the Populus euphratica forest in the lower reaches of the two rivers has begun to recover; The mileage of new highways is 75,000 kilometers, including 4,600 kilometers of expressways; More than 4,570 kilometers of new railway lines, double-track lines and electrified lines have been built, and 30 airports have been built, renovated and expanded, including 15 completed and 15 under construction.
(2) The project of returning farmland to forests was launched in an all-round way, and the protection and construction of ecological environment were obviously strengthened. After more than two years of pilot projects, from 2002, the project of returning farmland to forests was fully launched in 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, focusing on the central and western regions. By the end of 2003, China had returned 228 million mu of farmland to forests, including 654.38 billion mu of farmland to forests and 654.38 billion mu of afforestation in barren hills and wasteland suitable for forests. The survival rate of afforestation can basically meet the requirements. In the past four years, the project of returning farmland to forests has directly increased farmers' grain, seedlings and cash in the central and western regions by 49.2 billion yuan, which has promoted ecological improvement and increased farmers' income. The project of returning grazing to grassland began to be piloted, and seriously degraded grassland was arranged to be treated 1 100 million mu. The natural forest resources protection project was launched in an all-round way, and the sandstorm source control project in Beijing and Tianjin entered the implementation stage. Pollution control in the upper reaches of rivers and central cities in the west has been strengthened.
(3) Rural infrastructure construction has been significantly strengthened, and farmers' production and living conditions have gradually improved. The oil pipeline project leading to the county has been basically completed, with a total mileage of 26,000 kilometers; Renovation and construction of export roads in more than 300 poverty-stricken counties, 6.5438+0.7 million kilometers; The total mileage of the inter-county highway project is 46,000 kilometers, 30,000 kilometers have been started and 4,400 kilometers of pavement works have been completed. The project of sending electricity to villages has solved the power supply problem of 969 villages without electricity. The implementation of the radio and television access project has made the access ratio of radio and television in western administrative villages reach over 97%. The rural drinking water project for people and livestock has basically solved the drinking water problem of 26 million people in the western region. In 200 1 year, the pilot projects of ecological migration in Yunnan, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia have resettled 700,000 people living in areas with harsh ecological environment and no basic living conditions for human beings.
(4) The development of science and technology, education and social undertakings has been accelerated, and the development of talents has been intensified. In recent years, the state has arranged more than 2 100 scientific and technological development projects in the western region, built 18 scientific research bases and supported 230 high-tech industrialization demonstration projects. We will arrange the renovation of more than 7,000 dilapidated buildings in rural primary and secondary schools, support the construction of more than 240 county-level vocational education centers, technical secondary schools and technical schools, and focus on the construction of 25 university infrastructures, 152 university computer campus networks, and more than 500 county-level high-quality ordinary high schools and modern distance education demonstration projects in primary and secondary schools. Support the construction of 260 poverty-stricken county hospitals, more than 800 disease control institutions, more than 290 blood stations and blood centers in the western region, equipped with 1 190 family planning mobile service vehicles, more than 770 mobile medical vehicles, more than 60,000 radio and television receiving devices and a number of grassroots cultural facilities. The central state organs have intensified the training of cadres in the western region, and the number of exchange cadres with the western region has increased. In 2003 alone, 17 provincial and ministerial cadres and 220 bureau-level cadres went to the western region for temporary employment. 454 cadres from the western region and ethnic minorities went to the central state organs and the eastern region for post training. The Central Organization Department, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Ministry of Education and other organizations have organized and implemented activities such as doctoral service groups and college students volunteering to serve the west.
(5) Economic restructuring continued, and opening to the outside world was further expanded. The advantages of hydropower, natural gas, petroleum, non-ferrous metals, cotton, sugar, fruit, meat and other special products in the western region have initially taken shape. The construction of tourism infrastructure has been significantly strengthened. The proportion of added value of tertiary industry increased from 35.2% in 1999 to 38.7% in 2002. The reform, reorganization and transformation of state-owned enterprises have intensified, and the individual and private economy has developed rapidly. Nearly 100 of the world's top 500 enterprises have invested or set up offices in the western region. In the past four years, the accumulated foreign direct investment has reached 7.5 billion US dollars. Economic cooperation and counterpart support between the east and the west have been strengthened. Only Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and other provinces and cities have invested more than 654.38 billion yuan in the western region.
(6) The pace of economic construction in ethnic minority areas has been accelerated. The state has increased its investment in construction funds and financial transfer payments in ethnic minority areas, and all five ethnic minority autonomous regions and 30 ethnic minority autonomous prefectures have been included in the scope of western development. In the investment in the development of the western region, the state has made key arrangements for Tibet. The fourth aid to Tibet 1 17 organized 70 relevant provinces and cities to support Tibet's construction projects, with a total investment of more than 40 billion yuan. The state has laid out a number of key projects in Xinjiang, such as gas transmission from the west to the east, water conservancy development, watershed management, returning farmland to forests, traffic construction, commodity cotton base construction, and exploration of superior resources. Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Guangxi autonomous regions have witnessed rapid growth in investment and economy.
There are still many difficulties and problems in further promoting the development of the western region. The backward infrastructure such as transportation, water conservancy, energy and communication is still the weak link that restricts the development of the western region. The trend of local improvement and overall deterioration of the ecological environment has not been effectively controlled. The contradiction of water shortage is prominent, education, health and other social undertakings are seriously lagging behind, talent shortage and brain drain are serious, there is a big gap between reform and opening up, there are many investment environment problems, and self-development ability is insufficient. To solve these difficulties and problems, we should not only have a sense of urgency, but also be prepared for long-term and arduous struggle and make unremitting efforts.
Three. Tasks and measures to actively promote the development of the western region
Implement Theory of Three Represents, the spirit of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee, the strategic deployment, principles and policies and key tasks of the Central Committee on the development of the western region, take accelerating reform and development as the central task of the development of the western region, adhere to the people-oriented principle, implement the "five overall plans", continue to strengthen the construction of ecological environment and urban and rural infrastructure, fully promote the "two basics" of education in the western region, strengthen the construction of rural medical and health system, actively develop industries with distinctive advantages, and accelerate the development of the western region.
(1) Adhere to the "five combinations" and further strengthen the protection and construction of the ecological environment. We will continue to do a good job in ecological construction projects such as returning farmland to forests, returning grazing to grasslands, protecting natural forests, and controlling sandstorms in Beijing and Tianjin. The key point of returning farmland to forests is to consolidate the achievements and work hard on the "five combinations". In 2004, the task of returning farmland to forests was 10 million mu, and the task of afforestation in barren hills and wasteland was 50 million mu. Focus on the management of steep slope cultivated land above 25 degrees and seriously desertified cultivated land, especially on both sides of rivers and around lakes and reservoirs. We should adjust measures to local conditions, respect the laws of nature and pay attention to practical results. The project of returning grazing to grassland should sum up the pilot experience and improve the policies and measures. In 2004, the task of returning grazing to grassland was 90 million mu. It is necessary to combine returning farmland to forests, grazing and grassland with basic farmland construction, rural energy construction, ecological migration, follow-up industrial development, closing hillsides to prohibit grazing and house feeding to solve the long-term livelihood problems of farmers such as eating, burning firewood and increasing income.
We should further strengthen environmental protection. Adhere to the principle of prevention and protection, and implement the task of protecting important ecological functional areas. Strengthen the environmental impact assessment and ecological environment supervision of major construction projects, and strengthen environmental protection projects such as water pollution control, industrial pollution prevention and control, and mine environmental restoration and management in the upper reaches of rivers. Strengthen the construction of environmental protection facilities in central cities in the western region.
(2) Adhere to the principle of "grasping with both hands" and continue to accelerate infrastructure construction. We will continue to do a good job in major projects related to the long-term development of the western region and small and medium-sized projects closely related to the current interests of the masses. Concentrate on the construction of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, West-to-East Gas Transmission, West-to-East Power Transmission, Water Conservancy Project, Traffic Trunk and other major projects. At the same time, according to the planning requirements and the progress of the preliminary work of the projects, a number of key projects will be started in due course in 2004. Strengthen rural infrastructure construction in the western region and improve farmers' production and living conditions. In 2004, 65,438+600,000 kilometers of inter-county highways were arranged to be started, drinking water projects for people and livestock and county power grid reconstruction projects were continued, rural power grid reconstruction in some areas was improved, and power facilities construction in power-deficient counties in ethnic minority areas was supported. Support the construction of radio and television in natural villages (more than 20 households) with electricity in the western region. Strengthen the construction of rural market system.
(3) Promote the construction of "two basics" and public health undertakings, and promote coordinated economic and social development. Strengthen the construction of scientific and technological capabilities and key scientific research bases in the western region. Accelerate the development of rural basic education in the western region. It will take five years to achieve the goal of basically popularizing nine-year compulsory education in the western region, and concentrate on supporting the construction of primary and secondary school buildings and junior high school boarding schools in counties that are not "popularized for nine years" in the western region. Students from poor families in compulsory education are gradually exempted from miscellaneous fees and books, and boarding students are subsidized for living expenses. Strengthen the construction of hospitals in poverty-stricken counties and township hospitals, focus on supporting the construction of rural medical facilities with township hospitals as the main body, and strengthen the prevention and treatment of major infectious diseases and endemic diseases. Strengthen the construction of family planning service network at the grass-roots level. Continue to support the construction of county-level cultural centers, libraries and township cultural stations in the west.
(4) Accelerate the development of industries with distinctive advantages and enhance the self-development ability of the western region. Pay close attention to the adjustment of industrial structure, and put accelerating the development of industries with distinctive advantages in the western region and enhancing the self-development ability of the western region on the important agenda. According to the resource advantages and industrial comparative advantages of the western region, efforts should be made to cultivate advantageous industries such as energy, minerals, tourism and characteristic agriculture. We should take enterprises as the main body, take the market as the guidance, take advanced and applicable technologies as the support, and take a new way to allocate resources in the market. As long as the western region is basically qualified, marketable and competitive, priority should be given to the layout of key projects invested or approved by the state.
(5) Vigorously improve the development environment in the western region and expand economic cooperation between the eastern, central and western regions. The western region should further emancipate the mind, renew ideas, deepen reform and open wider to the outside world. Vigorously improve the investment environment, accelerate the transformation of government functions, strengthen the construction of the market system, and form a social credit system. Actively promote various effective forms of public ownership and vigorously develop individual, private and other non-public sectors of the economy. Combine the advantages of capital, technology and talents in the eastern and central regions with the advantages of resources, market and labor in the western region, implement complementary advantages, mutual benefit and common development, and establish a market-oriented cross-regional enterprise cooperation mechanism. We should rely on advantageous industries, key projects and key areas to attract foreign investment. Improve the level of opening up, encourage social capital and foreign capital to participate in infrastructure, ecological environment construction, the development of advantageous industries, and participate in the transformation and restructuring of state-owned enterprises.
(six) to speed up the pace of legal construction, strengthen the construction of talent team. We should conscientiously study and draw lessons from international successful experience, and combine the practice of developing the western region to strengthen the investigation and study of overall and systematic major legal issues. Under the overall legal framework of the country, we will focus on formulating the Law on the Promotion of Western Development, the Regulations on the Supervision of Ecological Environment in Western Development and other relevant laws and regulations, make great efforts to promote the improvement of the legal environment in the western region, intensify the legal construction, and create a good legal environment for the large-scale development of the western region. Implement the spirit of the national talent work conference and the ten-year plan for talent development in the western region. Formulate flexible employment policies, create a good employment mechanism and environment, and reform the income distribution system. Increase exchanges between party and government leading cadres at or above the county level. Establish a service system for professionals from large and medium-sized cities to the grassroots in the western region. Strengthen personnel training and training.
(seven) to study and implement policies and measures to further promote the development of the western region, and to carry out the preliminary research work of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for the development of the western region. It is necessary to study and formulate practical policies and measures to further promote the large-scale development of the western region. In the work plans and annual plans of various regions and departments, the objectives and key tasks of the current government on the large-scale development of the western region should be implemented. Research on Major Issues in the Early Eleventh Five-Year Plan of Western Development. Start the planning of key economic regions.
the Silk Road
In ancient times, China was a land trade channel from Central Asia to South Asia, West Asia, Europe and North Africa. Because a large number of China silk and silk products are transported westward through this road, it is called the Silk Road, or the Silk Road for short. The name of the Silk Road was first put forward by German geographer von Richthofen in his book China published in 1877. Originally refers to the traffic routes between China and Central Asia and India during the Han Dynasty, mainly silk trade. Later, German historian A Herman extended the Silk Road to the west coast of the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, and determined the basic connotation of the Silk Road.
The Silk Road has existed for a long time. In the ancient world, only China was a country that planted mulberry, raised silkworms and produced silk products. Archaeological data fully prove that silk production technology has developed to a fairly high level from Shang Dynasty to Warring States Period. At that time, China silk was trafficked to Central Asia and India in a small amount through the northwest nationalities. In 60 BC, the Han Dynasty made the capital of the Western Region and settled in Wulei City (now Luntai East, Xinjiang) to protect the access to the Western Region. As early as after Zhang Qianxi allied Wusun, China envoys and businessmen went west in succession. At this point, the Silk Road has become more and more smooth, and a large number of silks and silks have been transported westward along this road. At the same time, foreign products from western countries were introduced into China. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, commercial exchanges between the East and the West continued, and Dunhuang, located at the throat of the Silk Road, was one of the gathering places of Hu businessmen. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the Northern and Southern Dynasties separated, but the communication between the East and the West along the Silk Road further flourished. Shortly after the establishment of the Northern Wei Dynasty, envoys were sent to the Western Regions. After that, envoys and businessmen from Central Asian countries often gathered in Pingcheng (the capital of the early Northern Wei Dynasty, now northeast of Datong, Shanxi). After moving the capital to Luoyang, Luoyang became a gathering place for businessmen from all over the world, and many businessmen gathered in the capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Emperor Yang Di once sent assistant minister Pei Ju of Huangmen to Zhangye to attract businessmen from the western regions, indicating the prosperity of the Silk Road at that time. The western territory of the Tang Dynasty surpassed that of the Han Dynasty, and Yizhou, Xizhou, Tingzhou and other counties were established, which was the same as that of the mainland. Four towns of Anxi were established in Qiuci, Khotan, Shule and Suiye (Suiye was later replaced by Yanqi) for garrison defense, and they were under the protection of Anxi Dufu. Later, the northern imperial court was set up to protect the government of Jimmy State in Tianshan North Road, which provided a more reliable guarantee for the smooth flow of the Silk Road. Therefore, Chang 'an, Luoyang and other important cities in the Tang Dynasty have a large number of businessmen, showing the elegance of an international city. From the end of the 9th century to 1 1 century, due to the shift of China's political, economic and cultural center to the southeast coast and the rise of the Arab world, maritime exchanges between the East and the West became more and more frequent. At the same time, the division and opposition of various ethnic regimes in the northwest of China made it difficult to guarantee the safety of the Silk Road and reduced the importance of this land passage. During the Yuan Dynasty, due to Mongolia's Western Expedition and direct rule over vast areas of Central Asia and West Asia, the East-West Post Road was unblocked, and many European messengers, priests and businessmen came to China along this road, and the Silk Road flourished for a while. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it adopted a closed-door policy. Although the road from Jiayuguan to Central Asia via Hami is not broken, the Silk Road on land is far less important than the main traffic routes between China and the West.
The basic trend of the Silk Road was laid in the Han Dynasty. It starts from Han Chang 'an in the east and reaches Ban Long in the west, passing through Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang counties in Hexi Corridor, leaving Yumenguan or Yangguan, passing Bailongdui and reaching Loulan first. Loulan is in Guyanze (Pu Changhai, now the northwest of Lop Nur has nearly dried up, and the ruins of Loulan are almost completely lost by barren sand). In the Han Dynasty, there were two roads in the Western Regions, north and south, and Loulan was the bifurcation point of the two roads. From then on, the North Road went west, along the Peacock River to Quli (now Korla, Leo, Luntai, Xinjiang), and then westward through Kuqa (now Kuqa, Xinjiang) and Gu Mo (now Aksu, Xinjiang) to Shule (now Kashgar, Xinjiang). South Road starts from Shanni City, southwest along today's Cherchin River, and passes through Qiemo, Mickey, Yutian (now Hotan, Xinjiang), Pishan and shache to Shule. Because the Gobi Desert moved southward for more than 1000 years, the eastern part of the South Island gradually became a desert, and the ancient cities of Isen and Nini were annihilated by the desert, so the eastern part of the South Island today is far south of the ancient South Island. In the 16th year of Yongping (AD 73), Emperor Hanming attacked Xiongnu in the north and acquired the land of Yiwu (now Hami, Xinjiang) to prevent the northern Xiongnu from invading the western regions. Since then, the "New North Road" has changed from Dunhuang to Yiwu, then passed through Liu Zhong, Gaochangbi and Cheqian Jiaohe City to the west (all in today's Turpan Basin), crossed Tianshan Mountain, passed Yanqi to Qiuci, and then went west along Hanbei Road to Shule. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the communication between the Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions was mainly from Yizhou (now Chengdu, Sichuan) to Longhe (now Songpan, Sichuan), passing through Tuguhun Capital City next to Qinghai Lake, passing through Qaidam Basin to the west, going to Dunhuang to the north, or entering the Shanshan area of the Western Regions to the west. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a new road, Beixin Road, was opened up, which entered Central Asia from North Yumenguan Pass in Guazhou via Yizhou, Beiting and Luntai, and crossed the Ili River to Suiye. In addition to the above-mentioned Silk Road trunk line, there are many branches, and with the changes of the times and the evolution of the political and religious situation, the importance of each route is different in different periods, and new roads are constantly being opened up. Some scholars even expanded the concept of the Silk Road, thinking that the above-mentioned road only passed through the desert oasis, so it was called the Oasis Road. Also, the road through the nomadic areas in northern China is called Grassland Road, and the road through the South China Sea in China to the west is called Maritime Silk Road or Nanhai Road. Although these references are meaningful to the study of east-west traffic, they are not the Silk Road in the original sense.
Ruins of ancient post stations on the Silk Road. Tang dynasty? Pantuo site is the only place on the Silk Road. The historical significance of the Silk Road is not only a trade route between the East and the West, but also a channel for political and cultural exchanges between China and Asian and European countries. Western music, dance, painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts, astronomy, calendar, medicine and other scientific and technological knowledge, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Nestorianism, Islam and other religions were introduced to China first, which had a great influence in China. China's textile, papermaking, printing, gunpowder, compass, porcelain making and other techniques, painting and other artistic techniques, as well as Confucianism and Taoism, were also introduced to the West through this road and had an impact. The Silk Road is a symbol of the friendship between the East and the West. The caravan map of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes depicts the scene of Chinese and foreign businessmen's exchanges on the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty.