Heritage recognition draining local coffers
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Striving for recognition
Interest in achieving World Heritage recognition has been running high among Chinese in recent years.
With the inclusion of the "China Danxia Landform" on the World Heritage List in August, the country realized its 40th such property. Elsewhere in the country, many of China's scenic sites are among those where there are high hopes of consideration for the list.
A total of 35 projects, including Hangzhou's West Lake, are preparing to make their pitch for list recognition, officials said.
However, many candidates run up a deficit, either in the process of making the bid or struggling to make ends meet to preserve the site and honor the commitment after being recognized.
Local governments in China spent more than 1 billion yuan, mostly on building infrastructures, to get the Danxia Landform on the list, according to the Guangzhou Daily.
Xinning county in Hunan Province, where Langshan Mountain was placed on the World Heritage List in August as part of the Danxia Landform, spent 400 million yuan in its bid for the title. However, the income of the entire county reached just 200 million yuan in 2008, according to the paper.
Nie Xiong, a civil servant from Xinning, said he didn't see the point of realizing the title.
"The success may improve the grades for officials' performances, but to most ordinary residents, we see no concrete benefits," Nie said, adding that he hasn't received his full salary in almost a year, as the local government has run into debt problems due to the burden from applying for the World Heritage title.
But there are also successful projects, such as the ancient city of Pingyao, which was added to the list in 1997. Ticket income from tourism in the city increased from 1.25 million yuan in 1997 and 75 million yuan in 2008, and the tourism income to GDP rose from 0.96 percent in 1997 to 13.91 percent in 2008.
Zhang, one of the Diaolou site specialists, said there is a misconception about applying for World Heritage recognition, as winning the title doesn't translate into guaranteed financial gains.
"To be on the list means an obligation to protect a site that belongs to mankind," he said, adding that it's wrong for some local governments to develop the sites for instant returns.
Zhou Xueying, a professor of history at Nanjing University, told the Global Times that a more transparent financial system should be established to solve the funding shortage.
"Only in this way can our government give a clear explanation of where the public spending goes," said Zhou.
Zhou said that such bids should be done realistically.
If the local economy has not developed to a certain level, the result of the application for World Heritage status could run contrary to the original intent, Zhou said.
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