A large number of intangible cultural heritage items have been more effectively protected since the country's Intangible Cultural Heritage Law came into effect in 2011, according to a report issued in November.

These items reflect China's traditional culture and have historical, literary, artistic and scientific value, said the report by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

The report was based on a nationwide inspection focused on reviewing the implementation of the law.

From May to August, a supervision team investigated eight provincial-level regions, including Shanxi, Fujian, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces, as well as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Local authorities in Shanghai and the provinces of Sichuan, Zhejiang, Guizhou and Gansu carried out self-examinations.

The report revealed that the ICH work mechanism over the years has been continuously improved, public awareness of efforts to protect related items has deepened, and ICH's role in serving contemporary society and benefiting the people has increasingly grown.

The country has over 100,000 ICH items at different levels, including 1,557 designated as national-level items. More than 40 items have been included in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list, ranking first in the world, the report showed.

In June 2011, the ICH law came into effect after being adopted in February that year. It aimed to carry forward the traditional culture of China, to promote the construction of a socialist civilization, and strengthen ICH preservation.

The law sought to ensure the items' authenticity, completeness and inheritance value; to boost the recognition of Chinese culture; to maintain the country's ethnic unity; and to promote social harmony and sustainable development.

The law also established "three systems" to support ICH development.

The investigation system requires that ICH authorities, organizations and individuals be allowed to review the law's implementation according to corresponding regulations. The representative ICH system brings together limited resources to protect ICH items that embody the country's fine traditional culture. And the inheritance and dissemination system ensures that governments at all levels, as well as relevant departments, universities, media and public cultural organizations bear the responsibility of enhancing publicity related to ICH protection.

The law also encourages the use of ICH projects to explore cultural markets and services that have local ethnic characteristics to boost tourism.

"The people's congresses and governments at all levels have been actively promoting legislation related to ICH, providing strong legal safeguards for its protection and inheritance," said Tie Ning, vice-chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the NPC.

Relevant State Council departments have issued a series of regulations and normative documents covering areas including ICH surveys, recognition of representative inheritors, fund management and the management of cultural ecological protection zones, she said.

"After years of efforts, China has established a legal system for ICH protection, which is in line with international standards and is relatively systematic and complete," she said.

Support for ICH items stepped up after the law kicked in, the report said.

Since 2011, the central budget has allocated 10.35 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) to support the protection and inheritance of representative national ICH items and the activities carried out by related national-level inheritors, according to the report.

Efforts have been made to continue improving the system of ICH laws and advance groundwork such as investigations and recordings of ICH, the report said.

China has recognized over 90,000 individuals as representative inheritors, of whom 3,068 are listed at the national level, it said.

Educational authorities have also specified that ICH education should be incorporated into the curriculum, with more than 3,300 primary and middle schools having set up related classes.

Rural benefits

The review team found ICH items have helped contribute to the development of tourism in rural areas.

More than 6,700 ICH workshops have been established nationwide, with more than 2,100 of them located in poverty-stricken areas, which have explored rural traditional cultural resources, built heritage inheritance bases and promoted the development of related industries, according to the report.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has promoted production-based ICH protection demonstration sites, with 99 at the national level having been recognized.

In Shandong province, ICH industry clusters — including those focused on grass and willow weaving, hanfu, kites, New Year paintings, gourd carving and peach wood carving — have been established, with over 4 million workers involved, Tie noted.

The enactment of the ICH law provides a solid foundation for strengthening its protection, elevates effective practices for ICH protection into a legal framework and formalizes the responsibilities of government departments at all levels as legal obligations, which ensures the long-term implementation and efficient operation of ICH protection policies, experts said.

The introduction of the law reflects China's commitment to fulfilling its obligations under international conventions, as the country was a key initiator in drafting UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Zhang Pingjun, deputy director of the School of Law at Huaqiao University, noted that China's legislative efforts to protect ICH have entered a period of rapid development.

"Through long-term exploration, ICH legislation has played an active role in enhancing awareness of protection … cultivating legislative talent, innovating legal protection methods, aligning with international ICH legislation, and establishing a uniquely Chinese system and mechanism for the legal protection of ICH," Zhang said.

Challenges remain

Although the implementation of the ICH law has achieved positive results, several challenges remain, the report said.

They cover insufficient integration of ICH protection with local socioeconomic development plans in some areas, as well as insufficient financial and human resources at the grassroots level.

The report called for a comprehensive national database for ICH resources, representative projects and inheritors; better public access to ICH experiences; a better mechanism for ICH creative and innovative development; and the integration of ICH with tourism.

Many regions and organizations have highlighted the need to promptly revise and improve the ICH law that has been in place now for more than 13 years, Tie said, adding that the revision of the law has already been included in the legislative plan.

"Through joint efforts, we aim to further enhance and refine the legal framework for ICH, comprehensively elevating the rule of law, standardization and institutionalization of ICH work," Tie said.

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