On the occasion of the 44th UNESCO World Heritage Committee Meeting held in Fuzhou, China, I would like to express, on behalf of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, my heartfelt congratulations on the success of the meeting. At the same time, I would like to thank the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the World Heritage Center, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the International Research Center for the Protection and Restoration of Cultural Property and other international institutions and experts for their long-term concern, support and assistance to China’s world cultural heritage cause.
China is an ancient civilized country with “a million years of human history, 10000 years of cultural history, and 5000 years of civilization”. The Chinese civilization is the only one in the world that has never been interrupted since ancient times. China has a huge number of cultural heritages with diverse types and rich connotations, including more than 760000 immovable cultural relics (including 5058 national key cultural relics protection sites) and 108 million state-owned movable cultural relics/set. We have 5535 museums of all kinds, and hold nearly 29000 exhibitions every year, attracting more than 1.2 billion visitors. Cultural heritage shows the enterprising spirit of the Chinese nation, which is pioneering and innovative, advancing with the times, and striving for self-improvement. It is an endless treasure containing rich knowledge, wisdom, and art. It is an important source for the Chinese nation and the Chinese people to strengthen their cultural self-confidence. It is an indispensable part of the progress of human civilization and world civilization and has made outstanding contributions.
In 1985, China formally concluded the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as the World Heritage Convention). In 1987, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin, the “Peking Man” site in Zhoukoudian, Mount Tai and other six of the first batch of heritages were included in the World Heritage List. For more than 30 years, the Chinese government, together with the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the World Heritage Center and an increasing number of States parties, has been committed to jointly abiding by the concept of heritage protection established by the World Heritage Convention, jointly implementing the international protection actions advocated by the World Heritage Convention, taking protection as the goal, research as the basis and applying for the World Heritage as the starting point, Keeping watch on inheriting precious cultural and natural heritage with global outstanding universal value has made important contributions to the sustainable development of human society and the development and progress of civilizations and cultures of all countries.
For more than 30 years, China has always been committed to promoting the development of Chinese civilization to achieve global sharing. Up to now, we have successfully declared 55 world heritages, of which 37 cultural heritages involve archaeological sites, grotto temples, ancient buildings, cultural landscapes, historical towns and urban centers, heritage canals, heritage routes and other types. The time span nearly one million years, and the space span nearly 5000 kilometers, covering the representative achievements of various historical stages and development fields of the “pluralistic integration” of Chinese civilization, It shows the Chinese nation’s long-standing cultural heritage, unique spiritual pursuit and ecological wisdom. In 2014, China’s Grand Canal, more than 1000 kilometers long, was successfully included in the World Heritage List, creating a successful case of the world’s largest time-space scale canal heritage application and giant linear heritage protection and management. Through these world cultural heritages, we have vividly demonstrated China’s history, culture and social development process to the world, promoted the communication and mutual trust between Chinese civilization and different cultures around the world, enhanced understanding and respect with people from all countries, and made unique contributions to promoting the construction of a common destiny of mankind.
For more than 30 years, China has been committed to improving the protection and management of world cultural heritage. Today, we have promulgated 127 laws, regulations and normative documents related to world cultural heritage, built 136 special protection and management institutions, and built a “one total and multiple points” monitoring and early warning digital platform and regulatory system. We have organized and implemented a number of world cultural heritage conservation projects, including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Chengde Summer Resort and its surrounding temples, Potala Palace historical buildings, Dazu Stone Carvings, and comprehensively improved the preservation of China’s world cultural heritage. We guide communities and people in heritage sites to participate in heritage protection and management, effectively enhance public awareness of heritage protection, and expand ways for people to participate in heritage protection. We have promoted the application of high-tech means, carried out interdisciplinary cooperation, and constantly improved the level of heritage protection and display. We guide the healthy and sustainable development of world cultural heritage tourism, and realize the interaction between heritage protection and education, integration with industry, parallel with environmental protection, and connection with people’s well-being. In 2019, 388 million people visited the world cultural heritage sites to experience the beauty of ancient civilization and modern civilization, which promoted the sharing of heritage protection achievements among the whole society. World cultural heritage plays an increasingly important role in the comprehensive and sustainable development of the heritage society.
For more than 30 years, China has been committed to deepening international exchanges and cooperation in the protection of world heritage. China has served as a member and chair of the World Heritage Committee for many times, actively cooperated with the World Heritage Center and its professional advisory bodies, and successfully held the 28th World Heritage Conference, the 15th International Council on Monuments and Sites, and a series of other important international academic conferences. We have actively promoted transnational cooperation projects such as the application and protection of the Silk Road between China and Central Asia, and the “Double Wall Dialogue” between China and the UK. In 2014, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan successfully applied for the World Heritage of the “Silk Road: the road network of the Chang’an Tianshan Corridor”, and the research project on transnational protection of the Silk Road advocated by the World Heritage Committee for many years made breakthrough progress for the first time. Since then, we have regularly held training courses on the protection and management of the Silk Road heritage, actively carried out the construction of the Silk Road shared database, and jointly submitted the report on the protection of the world heritage, so that the cooperation between the three countries has been deepened and consolidated. We have actively participated in international exchanges and technical assistance in heritage conservation, implemented major heritage conservation and heritage application projects such as Angkor Monument in Cambodia, Bogda Khan Palace in Mongolia, the nine storey temple in Duba Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, the pagoda in Pugan, Myanmar, and the ancient city of Shiwa in Uzbekistan, and carried out joint archaeology in more than 20 countries, including Kenya, Bangladesh, Egypt, to contribute to international cooperation in cultural heritage conservation, Contribute Chinese experience and wisdom.
For more than 30 years, we have been committed to the mutual learning and integration of the international heritage protection philosophy and the oriental heritage protection philosophy. Important international documents, such as the World Heritage Convention and its operating guidelines, the Venice Charter, have been widely disseminated and applied in China. New types of heritage, such as cultural landscapes, cultural routes, and industrial heritage, have been successively included in the scope of identification and protection. Heritage environment, heritage site spirit, urban and rural sustainable development, and other important related factors in heritage protection continue to become industry documents, such as the Guidelines for the Protection of Chinese Cultural Relics and Historic Sites, We have explored and established a theoretical system for the protection of cultural relics with international vision and Chinese characteristics. With reference to the methods of impact assessment and monitoring of world heritage sites, we have explored and established a system of impact assessment and preventive protection of Chinese cultural relics, making the protection of cultural relics more targeted and forward-looking. We pay attention to the protection of cultural diversity, unite stakeholders, rationally develop the tourism of heritage sites and the development and construction of heritage cities, guide people to think more broadly and profoundly about heritage protection, and promote the social value of cultural heritage to be further valued and played. On this basis, we, together with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, issued several international documents such as the Xi’an Declaration, the Beijing Document on the Protection and Restoration of Cultural Relics and Buildings in East Asia, which promoted the Asian concept and practice of cultural heritage protection to complement the international academic development.
The Chinese government attaches great importance to the importance of safeguarding the achievements of human civilization in promoting the sustainable development of societies and human civilizations in all countries, In recent years, the Chinese government has implemented a series of major cultural relics protection projects, including: launching the construction of the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, the Long March and the Yellow River National Cultural Park, integrating cultural relics and cultural resources with outstanding significance and important influence, implementing park based management and operation, and providing the public with public cultural spaces that realize the functions of protection, inheritance and utilization, cultural education, public services, tourism, leisure and entertainment, and scientific research; We will carry out the “Exploration of the Origin of Chinese Civilization” project and the “Archaeological China” major project. We will continue to promote archaeological and multidisciplinary research, sort out and explain the development process and major achievements of Chinese civilization, and lay a solid foundation for the protection and utilization of cultural relics; Explore the establishment of a national cultural relics protection and utilization demonstration area, promote the integration of regional cultural relics resources and centralized protection and utilization, innovate the mechanism of cultural relics protection and utilization, and help the economic and social sustainable development of heritage sites; We will strengthen the protection and utilization of grotto temples in China. Through conducting archaeological surveys of grotto temples, compiling special plans for the protection and utilization of grotto temples and archaeology, we will implement protection projects for grotto temples by category, so as to make the protection of grotto temples systematic and refined.
At present, the century old changes in the world and the century old epidemic situation are intertwined and overlapping, the economic and social development of all countries is facing severe challenges, and the instability and uncertainty of the future development process of mankind are rising significantly. It has become an international consensus to protect cultural heritage, safeguard the achievements of civilization, promote dialogue and exchange, eliminate barriers and conflicts between different cultures, and promote world peace and sustainable development. China will, as always, strengthen communication and cooperation with UNESCO and the contracting parties, actively participate in the research, management, protection and other international affairs of world heritage, promote the “Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Action”, and systematically carry out cooperation in various fields such as cultural relics aid, historical sites protection and restoration, joint archaeology, exhibition and exchange. The Chinese government and people are willing to work with governments and people around the world to build a solid cultural foundation and make unremitting efforts to achieve the healthy and sustainable development of human society.
(The author is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. The original was published in the 99th issue of the World Heritage magazine.)