Wang Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), visits the National Cultural Heritage Administration in Beijing on Jan 25, 2022. [Photo/npc.gov.cn]

Wang Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC)  Central Committee and vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), has called for more efforts to improve the law-based protection and utilization of cultural relics.

Wang made the remarks during an inspection tour to the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the National Museum of China, and the Palace Museum on Jan 25 and 26, learning about their enforcement of the Law on Cultural Relics Protection.

The senior legislator held online and offline meetings with representatives from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the National Museum of China, the Palace Museum and the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, as well as the cultural heritage bureaus of Shanxi, Henan and Beijing.

Wang said China has made notable progress in work related to cultural relics since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, formed a clearer picture of the country's heritage resources and significantly enhanced their conservation.

It is a historical, political and legal obligation to properly protect and utilize cultural relics, bring heritage resources back to life, and give full play to their role in enhancing people's sense of national self-esteem and pride, Wang stressed.

He called for more efforts to strengthen enforcement of laws and regulations on cultural relics conservation, crack down on related crimes, and mitigate safety risks.

An amendment to the Law on Cultural Relics Protection, already part of the legislative agenda of the NPC Standing Committee, should focus on solving problems and pursuing smooth progress and innovation in order to further improve the country's law-based protection of cultural relics, according to Wang.

China has 766,700 immovable cultural relics and 108 million sets of State-owned movable cultural relics. At a meeting held in August 2021, the NPC Standing Committee fully recognized the achievements that have been made in cultural relic protection and gave suggestions for further improvement.