“The key point is to view the sites from the perspective of human civilization instead of China's own, extracting the most fundamental elements of them and letting the facts speak,“ said Chen, who also was the main drafter of documents when seeking World Heritage status for the Xixia Imperial Tombs.

　　“When viewing the Xixia Imperial Tombs from the global perspective, for instance, you will find that none of the existing sites on the World Heritage List had a relation to the Xixia Dynasty or the Tangut people who established it,“ she said, so the Xixia tombs site “fills in a blank“.

　　In a congratulatory message to the 44th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Fuzhou, Fujian, in 2021, President Xi said that China stands ready to work with all countries and UNESCO to strengthen exchanges, boost cooperation and enhance mutual learning to jointly preserve the cultural and natural treasures of the whole of mankind.

　　Zheng, the researcher from the China Academy of Cultural Heritage, said, “The World Heritage system is a good platform for international communication and equal dialogue among various civilizations.“

　　A remarkable example of such communication was the successful application for inscription on the World Heritage List of “Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor“ in 2014 by China and its Central Asian neighbors Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

　　“The ancient Silk Road spanning across Asia, Africa and Europe is one of the world's largest heritage sites, woven together by a vast network of corridors and routes. It's impossible to apply for it all at once“, so the applications are instead segmented, said Zheng.