Beijing has set up a research center for world cultural heritage in the country in a bid to back heritage protection with more advanced theories and international criteria.

Located in the Beijing University of Technology, the Research Center for World Cultural Heritage is the first of its kind in

China.

The center has gained support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) among its other eight counterparts, according to Professor Dai Jian, executive president of the research centre.

"Our study focuses on how to adopt UNESCO's guidance and standards to evacuate, protect and manage the heritage sites in China, especially to enhance the study of preservation technologies where resources of the university can be explored,"

Saturday's China Daily quoted Dai as saying.

In the past few years, the university has accomplished research on preserving and renovating historical sites in Beijing, under UNESCO's instructions.

"Our practice has brought us abundant experiences, and also a group of outstanding professionals, which are of great importance to the research centre," said Dai, who is also deputy director of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of the university.

The research centre covers the evaluation and planning of cultural heritage, popularizes preservation knowledge, and carries

out training projects for professionals in heritage protection as well as international exchanges.

China had 30 world heritage sites, which made it No 1 and No 3 in Asia and the world respectively, ever since the government ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1985.

And that number has increased to 32 after two items, Kunqu opera and the art of Guqin music, were admitted into the list of

the oral and intangible heritage of humanity in 2001 and 2003.

Yet China still faces a serious problem in world heritage protection work, which is threatened by factors such as

urbanization, population growth, environmental exacerbation and disordered management, as experts pointed out.

"China has done a lot in preserving its world heritage, and achieved obvious progress in the last two decades," said Professor Azedine Beschaouch, president of the center and former president of the World Heritage Committee.

Source: Xinhua