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)