CNKI, China's leading digital knowledge database, has proposed an international project to build a Belt and Road themed bibliographic databases to create a new "Silk Road civilization".

The project has been included in China's "Silk Road Book" initiative, to build cultural and economic ties among countries along the Silk Road, and promote cooperation among governmental and non-governmental organizations in these countries.

In line with the Belt and Road initiative's intention to boost mutual understanding, knowledge sharing and cultural integration, the project will help people know more about the initiative.

The project includes the creation of a multinational sharing platform for knowledge and culture of countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt, and four resource databases in the aspects of cultural heritage, cultural and artistic works with regional characteristics, national situation, and the economic development and research achievements of countries along the Silk Road.

At the 22nd Beijing International Book Fair held in August 2015, Tsinghua Tongfang Knowledge Network Technology proposed an idea to build a network-based knowledge infrastructure interconnection program among the Silk Road countries. The company's proposal aims to target the co-building and sharing of digital resources among the key cultural institutions in the countries along the Silk Road.

The CNKI project has been striving to explore overseas business opportunities and look for cooperation and marketing channel development. The academic symposiums held in Thailand and Malaysia are two examples of its efforts.

CNKI project staff introduce the achievements of the Chinese-English Bilingual Silk Road Document Database at the Thailand International Chinese Medicine Academic Symposium.

In mid-September 2015, staff from Tsinghua Tongfang Knowledge Network Technology participated in the first Thailand International Chinese Medicine Academic Symposium.

Through an exhibition of research resources on Chinese medicine, the CNKI project hoped to attract attention and feedback from Chinese medicine practitioners in Southeast Asia, and possibly form new partnerships in historical cultural resources search and cooperation.

The project established connection with E-information for Library, a global public-benefit library organization, to discuss cooperation in collecting Chinese medicine, sinology and other Chinese culture-related documents in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. They agreed to purchase Chinese research resources in Thailand and digitize local research resources.

Silk Road document resources collected at the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia.

In October 2016, the project's staff held an activity for marketing promotion and cooperation in Malaysia. Malaysia played an important role in China's ancient Maritime Silk Road and is also a friendly neighbor that is actively participating in the current Belt and Road Initiative.