Preparations for the upcoming 28thconference of the World Heritage Committee are progressing smoothly, said Zhang Xinsheng, chairman of the 28th Session of the World Heritage Committee, on Tuesday.

The number of registered participants has reached 499 and is expected to grow, said Zhang, also Chinese vice-minister of education

The Japanese delegation is coming with the biggest participant number of 20, followed by Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Countries far away like Iceland in northern Europe will also take part in the event, Zhang said.

According to Zhang, about 60 members from UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) will participate in the conference, including its director-general, chairman of the executive board and chairman of the general conference, the first time for the three to join a World Heritage Committee conference at the same time.

High-ranking officials from the World Heritage Committee, the World Bank and China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will also take part in the meeting, Zhang said, adding that the historical architecture in Macao has been put on China's list for world heritage application next year.

Boasting the biggest number of participants as well as topics, which number 27, the longest meeting time, from June 28 to July 7,and the largest scale of its kind, the coming conference will, said Zhang, become one of the most successful international conferences held by the country.

China will, he said, advocate at the conference to set up an organization on the scientific research, consulting, education and training of world heritage mainly for the Asia-Pacific region, which will relate to China's college education to bring up more talents in this regard.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2004)