With many historical sites and relics falling into ruin, the Chinese government seeks to bolster protection of cultural landmarks and artifacts by issuing revised regulations.
A revamped version of the Protection Regulation for Chinese Cultural Relics will be disclosed to the public in the near future, said Lyu Zhou, an architecture professor at Tsinghua University.
"The revised regulation will come out sometime in October or November," told Lyu at a seminar in Gansu Province's Dunhuang City.
In 2000, the International Council on Monuments and Sites' branch in China compiled the regulation, which was recommended by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) to become the basis for the protection of cultural relics and artifacts in China. The regulations were under revision since 2009.
The new regulations, Lyu said, will specify ancient and venerable sites, and will set concrete requirements on the presentation of these identified sites in China.
As per records, over 760,000 registered immovable cultural artifacts are found in China. This number excepts the 28.6 million artifacts protected in 2,384 museums across the country.
Serious reforms on Chinese heritage protection have been started since 1978, with the 1982 Cultural Relics Protection Law providing the main legislative directive for all conservation efforts. However, several issues both man-made and natural continue to present challenges.
In November last year, "Asia's No.1 Covered Bridge," a popular covered bridge in Chongqing Municipality, was incinerated. Previously, the local government of Dongguan City in Guangdong demolished the 150-year-old Daosheng Garden.
According to SACH, nearly 130,000 or 18 percent of China's immovable cultural artifacts and relics are in "bad" or "terrible" condition.