Zhang Xinsheng, chairman of the Executive Board of UNESCO,
delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the 30th session of the
UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, July 8,
2006. More than 600 representatives from over 70 countries and regions are
expected to attend the nine-day session of the World Heritage Committee.
The World Heritage Committee will consider two Chinese sites for inclusion
on the World Heritage List during its annual meeting, which are the Great
Panda habitat in southwest China's Sichuan Province and the ruins of the
Shang Dynasty (16th to 11th Centuries B.C.) capital in Anyang city,
central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua
Photo) |
VILNIUS,
Lithuania, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese delegation to the 30th session of the
World Heritage Committee, slated for July 8-16, on Sunday expressed optimism
about the inclusion of two Chinese sites into the World Heritage List.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) experts had spoken positively of the two Chinese sites,
Tian Xiaogang, the secretary-general of the National Commission of China for the
UNESCO, told Chinese reporters during the meeting of the World Heritage
Committee.
The two sites are the Great Panda habitat in
southwest China's Sichuan Province and the ruins of the Shang Dynasty (16th to
11th Centuries B.C.) capital in Anyang city in central China's Henan Province.
The experts had basically agreed on the inclusion of
the two Chinese sites during the preliminary assessment, Tian said.
"Our two sites have advantages as the ruins of the
Shang Dynasty in Anyang meet all the criteria for application," he said, adding
that the Great Panda habitat is "in the class by itself."
"Our disadvantage is that China is not a member of
the World Heritage Committee and cannot speak for itself if not asked to," he
said.
Zhang Xinsheng, the chairman of the Executive Board
of the UNESCO, agreed with Tian. He told Xinhua it was hopeful that the two
sites could be included into the World Heritage List as they had been okayed
initially by the experts.
However, the task of pushing them to be accepted "is
still hard" before the result comes out on Wednesday, Zhang added.
The ruins of the Shang Dynasty, covering 24 square
km, have been archaeologically proved to be the earliest of its kind in China,
featuring the civilization of Bronze Era.
The Great Panda habitat, 9,510 square km between Da
Duhe and Minjiang in Sichuan Province, is of universal value in bio-diversity,
according to the Chinese application report.
The Vilnius session of the World Heritage Committee
will review altogether 37 new applications from 30 countries. It will also
examine reports on the protection work of the currently listed sites.
So far, China has a total of 31 world heritage sites
after Spain and Italy.
Three Chinese world heritage sites -- the Forbidden
City, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven -- will submit report on their
protection at the session. Enditem
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