Philippine jade culture, or jade artifacts, made from white and green nephrite and dating as far back as 2000–1500 BC, have been discovered at a number of archaeological excavations in the Philippines since the 1930s. The artifacts have been both tools like chisels and ornaments such as lingling-o earrings, bracelets, and beads.
 The green nephrite has been traced to a deposit near modern Hualien City in eastern Taiwan. The source of the white nephrite is unknown. The jade was worked in the Philippines, especially in Batanes, Luzon, and Palawan. Some was also processed in Vietnam, while the peoples of Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia also participated in one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world. It was in existence for at least 3,000 years, where its peak production was from 2000 BC to 500 AD, older than the Silk Road in mainland Eurasia or the Maritime Silk Road. It began to wane during its final centuries, from 500 AD until 1000 AD.
 Jade was discovered by the animist Taiwanese indigenous peoples in Taiwan and mined soon after, in 2000 BCE. During this time, migrations by Austronesians from Taiwan began southward towards the Philippines, which also resulted in some animist indigenous peoples from the Philippines returning to Taiwan. Indigenous Filipinos soon began processing the jade from Taiwan for trade as technological advances were met. This initial trade between island communities established the first phase of the Maritime Jade Road.
 With the advent of further technologies propagated by indigenous Filipinos, more styles were made to process raw jade from Taiwan. These jade crafts became sought-after in many places in Southeast Asia, which led to the expansion of the network to Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia. Vietnam then learned to process the Taiwanese raw jade and added healthy competition to the trade network. Most of the jade crafts were still manufactured and processed in the Philippines. By 500 CE, the trade network began to weaken, and by 1000 CE, the trade route's jade production had formally stopped, although trade in other goods continued and expanded towards India and China. During this period, Southeast Asia became influenced by the Maritime Silk Road. Throughout its history, the Maritime Jade Road was fully independent from the Maritime Silk Road. In its productive history of 3,000 years (peaking between 2000 BCE and 500 CE), the animist-led Maritime Jade Road became known as one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world. It is also one of the major achievements of the animist peoples of the region. Thousands of artifacts made and traded through the Maritime Jade Road have been recovered from multiple archeological sites.[excessive citations] The network likely waned due to later aggressions by cultures outside of Southeast Asia, such as India and China. Peace was essential to the continuation of the sea jade network, as seen in the case of the Philippines (the main jade manufacturing area), where the islands experienced at least 1,500 years of near absolute peace from 500 BCE to 1000 CE, coinciding with the operations of the jade network.
 The following are the major locations with historical links to the Maritime Jade Road; many other places, aside from the following, traded through the network.
 UNESCO published an article falsely alleging that the Maritime Jade Road is the Maritime Silk Road. The Maritime Jade Road is older than the Maritime Silk Road by more than two thousand years. The article also did not refer to the importance of Taiwan on the Maritime Jade Road. The article was on a platform operated and maintained by China (PRC), which has a political and geographical dispute with Taiwan (ROC). Taiwan has repeatedly been blocked by the Chinese government from entering or participating in the activities of UNESCO. In 2017, China initiated a call for the nomination of the Maritime Silk Road to UNESCO while undermining the independent existence of the Maritime Jade Road and its connection to Taiwan. In 2020, Taiwanese citizens, including scientists and other scholars, were banned from UNESCO activities amidst Chinese (PRC) pressure over UNESCO. The ban was widely criticized.