On July 11, 2025 local time in Paris, at the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, China’s nominated site, the Xixia Imperial Tombs, passed the review and was inscribed on the World Heritage List, becoming China’s 60th world heritage site and the only Chinese project applying at this session.
As one of the ‘Top 100 Archaeological Discoveries of the 20th Century’ in China, the Xixia Imperial Tombs are the largest, highest-ranked, and best-preserved remains of the Xixia Dynasty. It witnesses the vanished Xixia civilization and the integration of diverse cultures, providing vivid evidence for the pluralistic and integrated pattern of Chinese civilization and the development of a unified multi-ethnic country.
According to the official website of UNESCO, the Xixia Dynasty (Western Xia, 1038-1227), founded by the Tangut people in northwestern China during the 11th to 13th centuries. Covering an area of nearly 40 square km, the site comprises four types of architectural remains: 9 imperial mausoleums, 271 subordinate tombs, a northern architectural complex covering 0.05 square km, and 32 flood control works.