China will shift the focus of heritage protection work from
applying to get more sites on the World Heritage List to better
managing and protecting the historical relics, a cultural heritage
official said Wednesday in Beijing.
So far, China has a total of 27 sites named on the World
Heritage List, ranking third after Spain and Italy.
Zhang Wenbin, director of the State Administration of Cultural
Heritage, made the remarks at a ceremony for the inscription of
four new sites and projects on the prestigious list.
With the rapidly increasing number of world heritage spots,
international organizations must undergo a stricter check on the
sites set for application. In addition to the cultural value of the
relics, balance of the world heritage distribution in different
countries and regions will also be taken into consideration.
"That means it will be impossible for China to apply for world
heritage in large numbers at a time," he said, adding that China,
with numerous and varied relics sites, will face more pressure
since the country joined the International Convention Concerning
the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage later than
many other countries.
He said that China's future heritage protection work will focus
on making special protection laws and regulations, training
professionals in this field, building a heritage protection
monitoring system and strengthening a comprehensive management
system.
The four new sites and projects added into the World Heritage
List include Longmen
Grottoes in Henan Province, the imperial
mausoleums of the Ming and Qing dynasties which are separately
located in Hubei and Hebei provinces, the Jokhang Temple in Tibet
and classical gardens in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
By the end of last year, the total number of world heritage
sites had reached 660, including 529 cultural heritage sites, 138
natural heritage sites and 23 that combined both cultural and
natural heritage.
(People's Daily 08/15/2001)