The National Cultural Heritage Administration of China has announced its plans to commence the fourth national survey of cultural relics, which will establish a national catalogue of immovable cultural relics. The survey is scheduled to begin later this year and is expected to take between three and four years to complete.
According to Li Qun, head of the administration, the survey aims to investigate the amount, location, features, and conditions of immovable cultural relics in the country. The survey will help to clarify cultural relic resources and formulating policies for their protection. Officials from the country’s cultural heritage authorities will oversee the survey.
The survey will re-examine the cultural relics already identified and registered, targeting immovable cultural relics on the ground, underground, and underwater in the country’s territory. Additionally, the investigation will identify newly found immovable relics.
The administration has also announced that it will release a list of the ninth batch of key institutions on cultural relic protection. The third national survey of cultural relics was conducted between April 2007 and December 2011. During this time, more than 760,000 immovable cultural relics were examined and registered.
