BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China will work to advance the formulation of a cultural heritage protection law as part of efforts to better preserve and pass on its cultural heritage, an official said Tuesday.
Hu Kaihong, deputy director of the General Office of the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress, told a media conference that the move is outlined in the country's first five-year plan dedicated to cultural heritage protection issued in September.
The plan calls for improving the legal and regulatory framework and strengthening legal safeguards for various types of cultural heritage, including historic and cultural districts, said Hu, also director of the office of the central commission for cultural heritage protection.
Hu said the plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) prioritizes protection, promotes the rational use of cultural heritage and adheres to the principle of minimal intervention, while strengthening systematic protection and unified oversight.
The plan sets a target of fully identifying the country's cultural heritage resources by 2030, with an improved regulatory framework, a stronger body of laws and regulations, and a growing pool of professionals.
China is home to 61 UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Great Wall, the Mogao Caves and the Beijing Central Axis.
As part of the efforts required in the plan to restore and revitalize cultural relics, China plans to restore 300 historic and cultural neighborhoods and 15,000 historic buildings during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, said Qin Haixiang, vice minister of housing and urban-rural development, at the press conference.
Currently, the Chinese government has designated more than 1,300 historic and cultural neighborhoods, recognized 72,000 historic buildings, and included 8,155 villages on the national list of traditional villages with high conservation value.
"We will encourage more residents of historic neighborhoods to participate in the restoration, with full respect for their opinions," Qin said, adding that efforts will be made to reinforce historic buildings and improve living environments.
The plan also calls for efforts to improve the protection of immovable cultural relics. Deng Chao, deputy head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said the country will upgrade its lists of protected sites of cultural heritage based on the results of the fourth survey on immovable national cultural relics, which started in November 2023 and is now in the conclusion stage.
"More than 70 percent of China's immovable cultural relics have yet to be assigned as protected sites by the government, some of which are privately owned and some are in poor condition," Deng said, noting that the administration will improve the protection and oversight system for such relics.
He said the locations of immovable cultural relics will be incorporated into the country's territorial spatial planning, while satellite remote sensing, drones and other technologies will be used to systematically monitor changes in their condition.
According to Deng, 31 provincial-level regions in China have introduced policies requiring archaeological surveys and exploration before local governments transfer land-use rights in areas where cultural relics may be buried underground. The requirement, included in a revision to the country's Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics passed in 2024, aims to prevent damage to cultural relics from large construction projects.
"We will make archaeology fully integrated into urban development, and promote the coordinated protection of aboveground cultural relics and underground archaeological sites," he said.
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