China to undertake census to help protect cultural relics

The fourth national cultural relics census has ignited nationwide efforts to safeguard the country's rich cultural heritage, with cultural relic protection forces across the board actively engaged in relic identification, documentation and protection.

In November last year, the State Council, China's Cabinet, announced in a notice the launch of the census, aimed at establishing a comprehensive national registry and database of immovable cultural relics, and to build a dynamic management mechanism for these assets.

The census also aims to improve the recognition and public announcement process for immovable cultural relics by standardizing identification criteria and registration procedures and establishing a system for publishing details about cultural relics.

Additionally, it seeks to enhance the management mechanism for protecting immovable cultural relics by combining comprehensive surveys, special investigations, spatial control and dynamic monitoring into a cohesive resource management system, the notice said.

The census is emphasizing training professionals, strengthening the relic protection workforce and raising public awareness about cultural heritage preservation.

The scope of the census includes above-ground, underground and underwater immovable cultural relics within China. It involves rechecking already identified and registered relics while also investigating, identifying and registering newly discovered ones. The details the census will cover include the names of cultural relics, their location, protection level, category, age, ownership, use and preservation status.

Repairs are made to a 14th century sculpture in a grotto near the Yangtze River in Chongqing. [Photo/Xinhua]

The census will run until June 2026 and will be conducted in three stages. The first stage, from November last year to April, established census institutions at different levels, determined technical standards and specifications, and conducted training.

During the second stage, from May until May next year, sites at the county level, which are considered the basic unit in the census, are to be surveyed. In the third stage, from June next year to June 2026, the sites will be identified, registered and publicly announced, and a general national catalog will be established.

To date, multiple provincial-level regions, including the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Chongqing municipality, as well as Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, have been advancing the various tasks of the second phase of on-site investigations.

The city of Dezhou in East China's Shandong province has finished the first phase of the census and switched to on-site investigation, said Zhang Chuanjie, deputy head of the Dezhou culture and tourism bureau.

The coordination mechanism between the city and county is operating effectively, with census funding of 3.57 million yuan ($507,000) allocated and a team of 286 people established, the Dezhou bureau reported.

Related work has reached more than 3,700 villages, with 225 sites investigated on the ground.

"The goal is to complete 80 percent of the on-site investigation by the end of the year," Zhang said.

In Qingzhou, a county-level city in Shandong, more than 600 census personnel have been sent to more than 150 villages as of mid-September, covering an area of 80 square kilometers, said Yang Zhongyou, a senior official at the Qingzhou cultural relics bureau.

A total of 123 immovable cultural relics have been reviewed.