The World Heritage Work Committee was jointly initiated by the management committees of 21 world heritage sites including the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Jiuzhaigou scenic spot, the Dujiang Dam, Suzhou Gardens and the ancient town of Lijiang.

Committee director Yang Hongbo said the non-government organization would help the government improve the management and protection of world heritage sites and boost cooperation with international organizations on both protection technologies and information exchanges.

According to Yang, the organization is affiliated to the Association of China's Scenic Spots whose major tasks are to aid relevant government organizations in their management of the country's 28 heritage sites.

As the management of China's world heritage sites was shared by the construction, culture and historic relics authorities, Lin Jianing, vice president of the ACSS, said a major problem hindering China's past protection efforts was the lack of unified management. He believed the newly-established organization would help solve the problem.

Currently there are 730 world heritage sites worldwide, of which 28 are situated in China.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2003)