A rouge-red glazed famille rose bowl decorated with a flower-butterfly pattern from the Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]

Due to all these effective measures taken in recent years, culture has become an integral part of targeted poverty alleviation. During this year's two sessions, Yang Changqin, a NPC deputy from Southwest China's Guizhou province, told the story of how protecting intangible culture heritage has helped lift local people out of poverty.

The 27-year-old is a provincial-level inheritor of bamboo weaving, and has practiced the art for 10 years. To help local bamboo farmers, in 2014 she began to offer bamboo weaving training courses in her hometown and since then nearly 1,000 poor locals have signed up for the courses. Now, Yang's bamboo weaving company has created job opportunities for over 20 local women and its annual sales have exceeded 3 million yuan ($473,000).