The International Forum on the History and Future of Xinjiang, China was held on Wednesday in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, aiming to promote research on Xinjiang's cultural unity in diversity, and to deepen cross-cultural exchange and learning between China and the world.

The international forum "The History and Future of Xinjiang, China" is being held in the renowned ancient Silk Road city of Kashi (aka, Kashgar). On behalf of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, I would like to offer my warm welcome to everyone.

"Xinjiang is modernizing quickly while keeping its ethnic traditional culture, and the region will embrace a hopeful future," said Australian sinologist Colin Mackerras.

The internationally prevalent narrative that portrays the relationship between the culture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, historically known as the Western Regions, and Chinese culture as being the "assimilation" of the former into the latter is untrue and reflects the widespread ignorance of Chinese history, Pan Yue, director of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, said.