Only companies certificated by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) can undertake projects on Chinese cultural heritage sites from now on.

The announcement was made by the administration yesterday when it gave about 100 Chinese companies certificates of qualification, making them the first companies certificated to undertake projects involving Chinese cultural heritage objects or sites under the amended Cultural Heritage Protection Law of China.

The new law, which came into effect in November 2002 after being approved by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, stipulates that all companies undertaking projects on Chinese cultural heritage objects or sites have to be certificated by SACH.

"Before the new law was instituted any company could undertake projects that involved sites or objects of cultural heritage. Such projects, especially renovation projects, demand professional skills to prevent damage during construction," said Shan Jixiang, head of SACH.

In the past, cultural heritage site renovations have generally been criticized for destroying the original appearance of the sites.

The roughly 100 companies, chosen by an expert committee of SACH from more than 500 applicants, are qualified for projects of varying importance on sites or objects of cultural heritage.

Of them, 24 can undertake the survey and design of projects involving cultural heritage sites under national level protection, and 38 can undertake the actual renovation work on such important sites.

The certificated companies are to have their work evaluated by SACH on a yearly basis and those whose work is not up to standard will lose their certificates, which are otherwise in effect for 12 years.

(China Daily June 12, 2004)