Protecting heritage sites a priority

3.5m yuan allocated to a fund for rescue work amid floods in southern provinces

Protection and reinforcement of cultural heritage sites in flood-hit provinces in South China will be a focus of restoration work in the next few years, a senior National Cultural Heritage Administration official said on Saturday.

Government budgets for cultural heritage renovation will give priority to sites affected by natural disasters, said Song Xinchao, the administration's deputy director.

A number of Chinese cultural heritage sites have been affected by flooding in the past few weeks, especially those along the Yangtze River. Statistics from the administration showed that by Thursday, more than 500 cultural heritage sites such as monuments, ancient architecture and bridges in 11 provincial-level regions had been destroyed or damaged by floodwater.

Seventy-six of the sites are under national-level protection, and 187 under provincial-level protection. Jiangxi has been the province hit hardest, with 160 heritage sites ruined by deluges, followed by Anhui with 144, Hunan with 62 and Sichuan with 41.

"The national administration has notified local governments to remain on the highest-level alert and keep an eye out for the latest information on flooding," Song said. "They have been urged to preserve the structural components of damaged cultural heritage properly to minimize losses."

The administration has allocated about 3.5 million yuan ($500,000) to a special fund for cultural heritage rescue work in the provinces. Song said more money and technical support will follow after damage evaluation once the floodwaters recede.

He said emergency management efforts by the administration will include the improvement of its rapid response alarm system to better handle natural disasters such as floods.