The application for China's 1st group intangible cultural heritage will kick off soon and candidates from various provinces and regions will be submitted to the Ministry of Culture (MOC) by mid-September.

Zhou Heping, vice minister of culture said  Friday at a meeting that the application should strictly follow procedure and will undergo the approval of the expert team.

He said all the candidates meeting the national standard should have unique value in terms of historical, cultural and scientific research and be widely acknowledged by the public.

Cultural heritage already listed among the Masterpieces of Oraland Intangible Heritage of Humanity (MOIHH) by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will be directly designated as China's national cultural heritage.

Local governments should take more of a concern on declining cultural heritage, said Zhou, adding that a feasible protection plan on each candidate should also be drawn.

He stressed that experts' opinions should also play an important role during the course of application and selection.  

When talking about the protection on intangible cultural heritage, Zhou said China will take concrete measures including making nationwide investigations, giving relevant courses in primary and middle schools, and pilot launching protection projects.

He revealed that a forum will be held in Suzhou, a city of east China's Jiangsu Province, to showcase the achievements China has made in the field and further enhance public awareness of intangible cultural heritage protection.

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2005)