The award of the Prince of Asturias prize to the archaeological team working on the Terracotta Warriors was a recognition of China's tremendous progress in archaeology and the position of Chinese culture on the world arena.

A ceremony for the 2010 Prince of Asturias Awards was held in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo on Friday to honor people who have made notable achievements in eight areas such as social sciences and arts.

Among this year's laureates were the Chinese archaeological team excavating the terracotta warriors in Xi'an.

It is the first time that a Chinese archaeological project or team has been awarded the prize since it was established in September 1980.

According to Teresa Sanjurjo, director of Prince of Asturias Foundation, Europe and Spain are clearly aware of China's advances in both social and economic fields, and therefore "this is a perfect moment for cultural exchange to help us learn from each other."

As the main birthplaces of Oriental and Western civilizations, China and Europe have made great contributions to the progress of human civilization and their cultural exchanges constituted an important part of world history.

The two distinct civilizations are both open and inclusive, and they have a long history of cultural interflows. Especially in recent years, bilateral cultural exchanges have made steady progress and become more frequent.

Since 2003, a series of activities have been held, including Chinese Culture Year, French Culture Year, Year of Italy, Year of Spain, Year of Greece and Europalia China Art Festival, which were warmly welcomed by the Chinese and European peoples.

Earlier this month, the first EU-China High-Level Cultural Forum was held in Brussels, which, according to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, "symbolizes a new stage in their cultural interactions and a step forward in the overall China-EU relations."

The Prince of Asturias prize is just a new footnote for the "new stage."

Communication boosts opening-up, deepens understanding and encourages forgiveness. The opening-up and forgiveness, the inexhaustible impetus for the progress of civilization, are crucial in keeping the Chinese and European civilizations vigorous over thousands of years.

Though the cultural exchanges do not produce immediate results as political and economic links, they have more enduring power than political exchanges and a more profound impact than economic exchanges.

At a moment when the whole world is facing the challenges such as climate change, energy security, food security, terrorism and nuclear proliferation and an economic crisis, the mankind should attach great importance to the cultural power.

China and Europe have been continuously enriching their civilizations and trying to find answers to the challenges in cultural exchanges, which, with its enduring power, has unremittingly promoted the Sino-Europe cooperation and joint development.

The awarding of the Prince of Asturias Social Sciences prize to the archaeological team will be new coordinates in the constantly expanding map of Sino-Europe cultural exchanges. (Xinhua)