China has begun a comprehensive survey of its underwater cultural relics to learn the history of the sunken treasures and develop methods to better protect them in the future.

"As the first national survey on underwater relics, the survey aims to update information about underwater relics that are already in custody, locate new relics, and set up preservation zones for the most valuable ones," said Gu Yucai, director with the preservation bureau under the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) at a national conference over the weekend.

"Technologies including remote sensing, satellite navigation, and sound navigation will be used in the survey," Gu added.

Organized and well-equipped bounty hunters have made huge profits out of China's antiques, mostly porcelain looted from ancient sunken vessels in the South China Sea.

As one of the busiest international maritime trading routes, known as the "Marine Silk Road,” along which ancient Chinese traders shipped porcelain, silk, and other commodities overseas, the region harbors thousands of ancient shipwrecks.

Archaeologists excavated "Wanjiao No.1" in the sea near Fujian Province in 2005 and the salvage of a sunken ship named "Nanhai No.1," which was started in Guangdong Province in April, will soon be completed.

Chinese archaeologists excavated tens of thousands of precious antiques from an ancient sunken ship, named "Huaguangjiao No.1," in the sea near the Xisha Islands in May this year.

China boasts an oceanic area of 3 million square kilometers and coastline of more than 18,000 kilometers.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2007)