With Premier Wen Jiabao in the chair a draft regulation on protecting the Great Wall was considered Wednesday and ratified in principle by the executive meeting of the State Council.

The meeting declared that as the Great Wall was a world cultural heritage site and a symbol of the Chinese nation it required to be better protected. This in turn would help promote patriotism and play an important role in developing spiritual values.

The draft regulation conforms to the law on the protection of cultural relics. It states that the protection and refurbishment of the Great Wall should adhere to the principle of "preserving the original appearance". General guidelines for this decision will be framed in the near future. The draft regulation defines the duties of relevant local governments in protecting the Great Wall and calls on all sections of society to ensure the task is undertaken. 

Commercial exploitation of the Great Wall would be strictly regulated, states the draft regulation. The meeting said the State Council would circulate their initial draft after further revision.

The meeting also agreed to release a draft regulation on the National Science Fund (NSC) in order to gauge public opinion. The draft gives details on how NSC projects would be sponsored, supervised and managed. It also explains how to make applications to them for funding. 

The NSC is expected to play an important role in encouraging people to rejuvenate the country through innovation. The draft regulation on this will be further revised to reflect any suggestions from the public.

The Great Wall stretches for 6,700 km traversing Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Liaoning. Construction on it began during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) when sections were built in scattered strategic areas.

Like other sites of significant historical interest around the world the Great Wall has been damaged by natural occurrences and human activities. A feature carried in the April edition of Newsweek magazine listed the Great Wall as one of seven endangered heritage sites of the world. The article said close to two-thirds of the structure was crumbling and stone from it had been removed to be used for commercial purposes.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2006)