Into the deep for relics

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"The security situation has not been ideal," Li says, adding that relics have been illegally extracted from shallow areas of the South China Sea along the country's coast. "Complicated disputes on maritime interests with neighboring countries have also given us pressure. Maritime archeology is more closely connected with overseas countries than other fields. To ensure our national interests, we will gradually promote cross-border cooperation, starting with academic studies and training programs."

China recently completed a three-year cooperative underwater archeology discovery quest with Kenya near the Kenyan city Malindi, working alongside the country's first professional underwater archeologist squad.

Li says the State Administration of Cultural Heritage will be more active in international projects under the framework of UNESCO. After the Silk Road and Grand Canal were listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites in June, China formally launched a bid to have the Maritime Silk Road—a historical trade and cultural corridor in the sea connecting the East and West that peaked during the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties—placed on the list.

Many ancient ships with treasures are buried along the corridor. "The enhancement of underwater archeological discovery is one of the keys to having the corridor listed as a World Heritage site," says Xie Xiuzhi, director of the Shandong Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage.

The official application, which involves seven provincial-level administrative regions, will be submitted to UNESCO in 2016.

Li Xiaojie says China's underwater archeology lacks clear supervision, and "more rigid and timely regulation is a must".

"The rule of law offers the fundamental support to preserving the cultural relics," Li says.

Ancient shipwrecks in Chinese waters Nanhai One:

The wreckage of this ship, about 30-meters long and 9-meter wide, from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) that sank near Yangjiang in Guangdong province was first found in 1987. But archeological investigations into one of the country's biggest ancient shipwrecks only began in 2007. Findings including 80,000 pieces of well-preserved porcelain are considered among the top relics from the Maritime Silk Road days.

Huaguangjiao One:

Found by fishermen near the Xisha Islands in 1996 and plundered in the following year, the wreckage of the 19-meter-long ship from the Southern Song Dynasty witnessed China's first large-scale underwater archeological expedition on the high seas between 2007 and 2008. Nearly 10,000 pieces of cultural relics, most of them produced in southeastern Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, were found.

The ship, with its six decks, reflects how advanced Chinese navigation was then.

Nan'ao One: Remains of the ship from the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) were found in 2007 by local fishermen near Shantou town in Guangdong province. The rescue mission began in 2009. The archaeological team unearthed about 9,700 items of porcelain (pictured) dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It is speculated that the ship was used to smuggle goods, including copper, because at the time, such items were embargoed for export in China. It was also the first occasion in China when archeologists used an underwater protective case to rescue the delicate objects.

Xiaobaijiao One:

Debris from the reign of Daoguang (1821-50) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), found near Ningbo in Zhejiang province, has hardly been plundered. The wreckage was salvaged in July, five years after it was detected, and further studies are ongoing.

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