The World Heritage Committee is processing the applications of five Chinese cultural heritage sites to be inscribed on the World Heritage List, said a senior Chinese cultural heritage official.

They were likely to enter the list in several years, said Shan Jixiang, director of China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), while attending the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee being held in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

The five sites are the historical monuments of Macao, the Diaolou buildings in Kaiping of south China's Guangdong Province, the Yin ruins in central China's Henan Province, the Tulou buildings in east China's Fujian Province and the terraced fields of the Hani ethnic group in southwest China's Yunnan Province. Both the Diaolou and the Tulou are peculiar residential buildings in southern China.

China submitted application documents for the five sites to the World Heritage Committee in January 2002.

The World Heritage Committee will deliberate the application of the historical monuments of Macao at its meeting next year, said Shan.

So far, China has 30 properties listed on the World Heritage list. It also holds a preparatory list of more than 100 properties.

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2004)