On Sept 15, the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held its seventh briefing session on issues of major concern in Beijing, focusing on the protection of historical and cultural heritage in urban and rural development. Vice-chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee Shao Hong, Zhu Yongxin and Yang Zhen attended the meeting. 

Qin Haixiang, vice-minister of housing and urban-rural development, briefed on the meeting participants that positive results had been achieved in the protection and inheritance of historical and cultural heritage in the country's rural and urban areas. 

He said that such documents as the management measures for the application of national historical and cultural cities and the work plan for the delineation of historical and cultural blocks and historical buildings had been issued to strengthen the survey and identification of historical and cultural resources. A total of 70 cities, including Beijing and Guangzhou, have been chosen to carry out pilot work on the overall protection and utilization of historical buildings, with progress seen in 155 projects highlighting the protection and restoration of historical buildings. 

The ministry has also established a special evaluation system for the protection of national historical and cultural cities, legislative research on the protection and inheritance of urban and rural historical and cultural heritage has been promoted to improve the relevant legal system, while greater publicity has been made to enhance the awareness of preserving historical and cultural heritage among urban administrators at all levels. 

Lu Jin, deputy director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, told the meeting participants that the administration had made efforts to coordinate the protection of cultural relics with economic and social development, supporting the implementation of new-type urbanization and rural vitalization strategies. 

The administration is speeding up the revision of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics and the central government has allocated special funds for protection and restoration of key cultural relics in historical and cultural cities. In addition, the construction of 51 national and provincial-level overall protection and utilization projects demonstrating Chinese traditional village culture is underway. 

Those attending the meeting also discussed such issues as how to balance urban renovation and the protection of historical and cultural heritage, better tapping the role of relics in historical and cultural inheritance, and facilitating the stronger supervision of protection work.