Conference calls for enhanced protection of major archaeological sites

Officials have called for putting high-level archaeology at the forefront of work on major archaeological sites, at a national conference held on Tuesday in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

The conference reviewed and analyzed the achievements made in protecting and utilizing major archaeological sites, examined the challenges ahead, and deliberated on tasks and measures to strengthen that work in the new era.

The conference emphasized that high-level archaeology should enhance research into the civilizations represented by major archaeological sites and turn them into important platforms for developing archaeology with Chinese characteristics, style and ethos.

It also called for making sustainable protection the foundation by upholding law-based and science-based conservation and strengthening accountability for the protection and security of cultural relics.

It stressed the importance of high-quality interpretation and presentation to improve cultural services at the sites, better realize the value of cultural relics, and meet the cultural needs of public.

Effective management was identified as essential to the preservation, inheritance and development of major archaeological sites, and advancing their high-quality development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030).

Rao Quan, vice-minister of Culture and Tourism and head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), attended the conference, along with Liu Yujiang, vice-governor of Henan, and Tang Wei, deputy director of the NCHA.

Representatives from the Hubei Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Sichuan Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Zhengzhou Municipal People's Government, the Hangzhou Municipal People's Government, the Xixia Imperial Tombs National Archaeological Site Park and the Han Dynasty Haihun Principality National Archaeological Site Park, among other institutions, shared their experiences and practices.

Participants also exchanged views on the conference's main topics and discussed the Measures for the Administration of National Archaeological Site Parks (Revised) and the Guidelines for the Establishment and Operation of Archaeological Site Parks.

The conference included officials from relevant departments of central Party and state organs, relevant departments and directly affiliated institutions of the NCHA, and cultural heritage authorities in provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and cities with concentrations of major archaeological sites. Heads of national archaeological site parks, along with representatives of relevant cultural heritage institutions, research organizations, and universities, also participated in the conference.

Li Ren contributed to this story