The Committee on Culture, Historical Data and Studies of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy jointly held a symposium on flood control and disaster relief on Dec 9, with a focus on the preservation of immovable cultural relics. 

Liu Xincheng, vice-chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and executive vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, delivered a speech at the symposium. 

Noting that China is one of the countries in the world hit hardest by natural disasters, Liu said that because ancient cultural relics are particularly vulnerable to severe natural disasters, it is time to further improve the disaster prevention and relief system for those that are immovable. 

Liu stated that it is important to fully realize the importance of disaster prevention and relief to the protection of cultural relics, tackle the existing deficiencies and weaknesses in this area, and prioritize disaster prevention and relief when conducting cultural relic management and protection, adding that it is necessary to advance the construction of a disaster relief system for immovable cultural relics in order to improve their emergency management. 

He also stressed the necessity of taking differentiated measures, in order to provide scientific guidance for the disaster prevention and relief of cultural relics of different types and in different regions.