Measures have been taken by the Chinese government to protect its cultural heritage, said Zhang Bai, vice director general of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and President of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) CHINA in Beijing on Tuesday.

The measures include, first of all, a legal framework that was established in 1982 with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics. Its latest revision was issued on October 28, 2002 by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Another enactment was the Rules for the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics issued on May 13, 2003 by the State Council. In addition, a series of specific regulations were formulated by central and local governments, and related legal instruments and industrial norms were also published, for example, Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China.

Second, central and local governments have regularly increased financial input to support cultural heritage conservation. The Ministry of Finance injected 2,237 million yuan into this during the Tenth Five-year Plan period (2001-2005), an increase of 20.5 percent compared with the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000).

The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage jointly initiated the Project of the Protection of Great Sites, which sets aside an annual input of 250 million yuan (about US$30.2 million) for the protection of some key sites with outstanding significance.

Third, whilst the government is sparing no efforts to promote economic development and improve living conditions, it is aware of the need to balance the relationship between construction and conservation and the protection of the natural settings of historical towns and quarters. Cultural heritage conservation and archaeological excavation were particularly emphasized in the Three Gorges Dam Project, South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the Project of Natural Gas Transmission from West to East, and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Project.

Fourth, as one of the parties to the four international conventions on cultural heritage conservation, China actively performed its international duties working with other countries against the illegal excavation and traffic of cultural relics.

Fifth, through strengthened international cooperation, new concepts and technologies were introduced and adopted in China's conservation practices. Chinese-foreign cooperation projects were launched at the Mogao Caves, Dunhuang; the Forbidden City, Beijing; Daming Palace Sites, Xi'an; Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang; and the Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde.

China has also provided assistance to other countries. For example, It made a donation of about 14.5 million yuan (about US$1.8 million) to the Angkor Wat Project in Cambodia for the renovation of the Chau Say Thevoda.

According to Zhang, more than 400,000 unmovable cultural properties have been identified in China: nearly 70,000 monuments and sites are under provincial, municipal and county protection, and 1,271 under national protection by the State Council Key Cultural Heritage Units; 30 Chinese properties including 26 sites have been added to the World Heritage List; 103 cities and 22 towns are designated by the State Council as Cities and Towns (Villages) as being of Recognized Historical and Cultural Value.

At present, there are approximately 2,200 museums on various themes throughout the country with an accumulated collection of 20 million pieces (sets) of cultural relics, 12 million of which are state-owned.

(China.org.cn by Unisumoon July 6, 2005)