The International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)'s 15th general assembly opened in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, on Monday morning. Over 1,000 experts from 85 countries and representatives from international organizations took part in the meeting focusing on conservation of heritage sites worldwide.

On the same day, a symposium themed "Monuments and Sites in Their Setting -- Conserving Cultural Heritage in Changing Townscapes and Landscapes" began to address problems confronting many countries in their efforts to conserve heritage sites and their environments amidst modernization.

"There are many reasons that I believe the event will significantly stimulate China's cultural heritage protection, and that China's practice of heritage preservation will also inspire our counterparts around the world," Zhang Bai, president of the Chinese ICOMOS committee, said.

"Xi'an, an old imperial city, reflects both the glory of the past and the dynamic vigor of today's modern China," said Michael Petzet, ICOMOS president, in his opening presentation.

Zhang Siqing, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, attended the opening ceremony and, in a meeting with Petzet, said "the Chinese government has placed a priority on cultural heritage protection."

"While dedicating itself to improving the living standards of the people and economic development, the government has continued to improve efforts in the area of protection as it also tries to balance that with economic development," Zhang told delegates.

China has more than 400,000 heritage sites, of which 7,000 have been registered as cultural heritage protection sites. So far, 1,271 cultural heritage sites have been placed on the national protection list, nearly 7,000 under provincial protection, and more than 60,000 under city or county protection.

Sun Jiazheng, culture minister, also spoke at the opening ceremony, after which delegates from partner organizations including UNESCO, the International Center for Conservation in Rome, International Council of Museums, Getty Foundation and World Monuments Fund made presentations.

Founded in Warsaw, Poland in 1965, the ICOMOS is an organization of professionals throughout the world dedicated to the conservation of historic monuments and sites. It is the only international non-governmental architectural and archeological heritage conservation organization of its kind.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Wang Zhiyong, October 18, 2005)