Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the press conference! Thank you for your concerns and support to Chinese cultural heritage conservation!

China boasts a long brilliant history reflected in its exceptional rich cultural heritage. To date, more than 400,000 unmovable cultural properties have been defined in China, out of which nearly 70,000 monuments and sites were placed under provincial, municipal and county protection and 1,271 were entitled by the State Council Key Cultural Heritage Unites under National protection; 30 Chinese properties including 26 cultural and mixed sites have been inscribed on the World Heritage List; 103 cities and 22 towns (villages) were designated by the State Council as Cities and Towns (Villages) of Recognized Historical and Cultural Values. Presently, there are around 2200 museums on various themes throughout the country with collection of 20 million pieces (sets) of cultural relics, 12 million pieces (sets) out of which are state-owned.

The Chinese government has attached great importance to the cultural heritage conservation.

A legal framework was established and continuously enhanced, Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics was revised and issued by the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, accordingly, Rules for the Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics was issued by the State Council. Meanwhile, a series specific regulations were formulated by the central and local government, and related legal instruments and industrial norms were published, e.g. Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China.

The central and local government has constantly increased financial input to support the conservation of cultural heritage. The Central Finance input 2,237 million RMB in this field during the Tenth Five-year Plan period, rising 20.5 percent compared with the Ninth Five-Year Plan period. The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage have jointly initiated the Project of the Protection of Great Sites, which means an annual input of 250 million RMB will be made for the protection of some key sites with outstanding significance.

Since China is undergoing the historical period of accelerative development of urbanization, cultural heritage conservation is facing severe challenges. Chinese government, as sparing no efforts to promote economic development and improve the living conditions of the people, attached great importance to handling the relation between construction and the conservation of cultural heritage as well as the protection of settings of historical towns and quarters. Cultural heritage conservation and archaeological excavation was particularly emphasized in the Three Gorges Dam Project, South-to-North Water Transfer Project, the Project of Natural Gas Transmission from West to East, and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Project.

As one of the state parties having signed the four international conventions on cultural heritage conservation, China actively performed its international duties and struggled against illegal excavation and transport of cultural relics jointly with other countries and regions.

By strengthening international cooperation, new concepts and advanced technologies were introduced and adopted in the cultural heritage conservation practice in China, e.g. Chinese-foreign cooperation projects have been launched at Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Forbidden City, Beijing, Daming Palace Sites, Xi’an, Longmeng Grottoes, Luoyang, and the Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde. Moreover, as a responsible country with a splendid cultural history, China also took active part in providing assistance to other countries for cultural heritage restoration, e.g. the Angkor Wat Project in Cambodia, and the Bogd Khaan Palace in Mongolia.

Now I would like to announce that the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) 15th General Assembly and International Scientific Symposium will take place from 17 to 21 October, 2005 in Xi’an, China.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is the only global non-governmental organization for the conservation and protection of monuments and sites, and is officially recognized as an advisory body to UNESCO, actively contributing to the evaluation of nominations submitted by the States Parties for inclusion on the World Heritage List. The General Assembly meets every three years to elect the Executive Committee and renew the strategic plan and program for the triennium. China joined the ICOMOS in 1993 and has established Chinese National Committee for ICOMOS (ICOMOS China). Following China’s application, Xi’an City has been selected to host the ICOMOS 15th General Assembly.

The ICOMOS 15th General Assembly will include the following program: holing the election, passing Xi’an Declaration which is currently being drafted by experts from China, Australia, Japan and ICOMOS Bureau; organizing a Celebration for the ICOMOS 40th Anniversary; and opening an International Scientific Symposium with the main theme of “Monuments and sites in their setting – conserving cultural heritage in changing townscapes and landscapes” and four sub-themes of Section I: Defining the setting of monuments and sites: the significance of tangible and intangible cultural and natural qualities; Section II: Vulnerabilities within the settings of monuments and sites: understanding the threats and defining appropriate responses; Section III: Evolving townscapes and landscapes within their settings: managing dynamic change; and Section VI: Cultural routes: the challenges of linear settings for monuments and sites.

On behalf of the organizer of the event, I would like to welcome all friends from China and abroad to the ICOMOS 15th General Assembly and International Scientific Symposium! I would be very glad to meet friends from the press in October in Xi’an and your report on the occasion will be very much appreciated!

Now, Mr. Sun Qingyun, Mayor of Xi’an City and I are ready to answer questions you may have.

Thank you!