China makes new waiting list for application for World Heritage

Silk Road, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the relic sites of ancient breweries have been included into a new list waiting to be applied for the World Heritage.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) announced the list here on Friday, which includes 35 relic sites, ancient buildings, industrial relics and cultural routes.

Tong Mingkang, vice director of the SACH, said China submitted its first World Heritage waiting list to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1996. According to relevant regulations of the UNESCO, the list should be amended every ten years.

Since people have new understanding on heritage and each country is allowed to apply for only one heritage site for the World Heritage list every year, some changes should be made to the waiting list, Tong said.

The 35 items on the list were selected by experts across China. The list will be submitted to UNESCO soon.

China now has 33 sites included in the World Heritage List. And China is seeking to add Diaolou buildings (military watchtowers) in Kaiping of south China's Guangdong Province into the list next year.

Tong said China will pay more attention to the protection and proper management of heritage sites and try to avoid excessive tourism.

If there are any serious problems in the management of the sites and if there are damages to the cultural relics, they may be deleted from the waiting list, Tong said.

Gu Yucai, director of cultural relics protection department under the SACH, said China's central government invested 149 million yuan (18.63 million U.S. dollars) in protecting the sites included in the World Heritage list in 2006, including 50 million yuan on the investigation and repairing of the Great Wall.

Source: Xinhua