An art institution is founded at Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts to explore and revitalize the cultural heritage of ancient Silk Road.

The Silk Road Art Research and Creativity Center echoes the Chinese government's ambitious proposal to develop the New Silk Road in the 21st century. It teams up research sources at and outside CAFA, with an effort to study the aesthetic evolution of the civilizations along the Silk Road. It also encourages artistic creations that preserve and incorporate cultural heritages of these cultures.

The center seeks for innovative mechanisms to restore traditional arts, in partnership with city authorities of Quanzhou, in Fujian province, Datong, in Shanxi province, Luoyang, in Henan province and Turpan, in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, which played an important role in the ancient Silk Road and maritime Silk Road. CAFA started to research the artistic traditions along the ancient Silk Road as early as the 1950s. Famed artists-cum-teachers such as Wu Zuoren and Dong Xiwen traveled extensively in Dunhuang in Gansu province, Xinjiang and Tibet autonomous region.