The application for China's 1st group intangible cultural
heritage will kick off soon and candidates from various provinces
and regions will be submitted to the Ministry of Culture (MOC) by
mid-September.
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Zhou Heping, vice minister of culture said? Friday at a
meeting that the application should strictly follow procedure and
will undergo the approval of the expert team.
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He said all the candidates meeting the national standard should
have unique value in terms of historical, cultural and scientific
research and be widely acknowledged by the public.
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Cultural heritage already listed among the Masterpieces of
Oraland Intangible Heritage of Humanity (MOIHH) by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
will be directly designated as China's national cultural
heritage.
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Local governments should take more of a concern on declining
cultural heritage, said Zhou, adding that a feasible protection
plan on each candidate should also be drawn.
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He stressed that experts' opinions should also play an important
role during the course of application and
selection.??
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When talking about the protection on intangible cultural
heritage, Zhou said China will take concrete measures including
making nationwide investigations, giving relevant courses in
primary and middle schools, and pilot launching protection
projects.
??
He revealed that a forum will be held in Suzhou, a city of east
China's Jiangsu
Province, to showcase the achievements China has made in the
field and further enhance public awareness of intangible cultural
heritage protection.
(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2005)