The 28th Session of the World Heritage Committee on Thursday selected the capital cities and tombs of the ancient Koguryo Kingdom of China for inscription on UNESCO's world heritage list.

It means China now has 30 world heritage entries.

China now also has "one of the happiest archaeologists in the world."

Those were the words of Li Xinquan, deputy head of Liaoning's provincial archaeological institute, when the committee decided in favor of the application. Li spent nine years researching the oldest of the capital cities from the ancient Koguryo Kingdom, at Wunu Mountain.

The selection committee also chose the Complex of the Koguryo Tombs, located in North Korea, for inclusion on the list.

The Koguryo Kingdom once extended through the northern half of the Korean Peninsula.

To better protect the vanished civilization, the committee recommended future cooperation between China and North Korea.

Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng agreed, saying, "The Chinese government encourages archaeologists and scholars to undertake all possible cooperation with their peers in North Korea."

Discussion over the Chinese application lasted less than 30 minutes and the representatives of eight countries made remarks about the site.

"All said China has preserved the capital cities and tombs of the ancient Koguryo Kingdom well and they supported its inscription," Li said.

After the meeting, officials from Jilin and Liaoning provinces said they would strive to preserve the sites as the World Heritage Convention requires.

"We are under more pressure now," said Sun Xudong, head of Huanren County in Liaoning Province, where Wunu Mountain is located. "Being added to the World Heritage List means we will have to work to higher standards. We will put priority on the protection and promotion of the ancient culture for the rest of the world."

Also on Thursday, the Imperial Palace of the Qing dynasty in Shenyang, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, was included as an extension to the already-listed Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties--more commonly known as the Forbidden City--in Beijing.

The Liaoning Tombs were inscribed as an extension to the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The Qing dynasty ruling families originated in northeast China.

(China Daily July 2, 2004)