Two new regulations will set a stronger legal basis to protect cultural relics in Beijing, as well as the historic capital itself.

The two regulations discussed by municipal legislators yesterday are the Beijing Regulation for Historic City Protection and the Beijing Implementation Method of the Law for the Preservation of Cultural Relics.

Votes on both are expected within a year by the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, the capital city's legislative body.

The implementation regulation would cover investment by both the Beijing municipal government and grassroots governments on protection of cultural relics.

"Governments at the municipal, district and county level should establish special funds for cultural relics protection according to actual needs of the work," the draft of the legislation says.

The new regulation would replace the Beijing Cultural Relics Protection Management Regulation, which was implemented in 1987 and revised in 1997.

Throughout the past 10 years, Beijing has increased investment in relic preservation.

An annual fund of 110 million yuan (US$13 million) was set up by the municipal government for three consecutive years since 2000. The figure increased to 120 million yuan (US$15 million) last year, said officials with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage.

"But we found that district and county governments still failed to make a steady and continuous investment in protection of cultural relics," Mei Ninghua, director of the bureau, said yesterday.

The growing popularity of some major sites like the Forbidden City, which often leads to their use in films and TV dramas, led to the creation of tighter rules.

"Film and TV companies should ask for permission from cultural heritage authorities and make specific plans for protection," the draft says.

Income derived from filming or other uses will be reinvested into relic protection.

A vote on the other piece of legislation, the Beijing Regulation for Historic City Protection, was initially scheduled for tomorrow, but members of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress held it back due to the different views on the draft, said Lin Wenyi, vice-director of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

"The regulation should accord with Beijing's overall urban layout," Gao Zuozhi, a standing committee member, said yesterday.

A draft layout should be released by the end of this year, sources said.

Standing Committee member Zhang Wenqi vowed to set a clear definition of items in the regulation such as traditional lanes.

Another member Shi Bingzhong called for clearer definitions of various protection departments.

The Standing Committee's Commission of Legislative Affairs will submit a revised draft, the third draft to date

Three other new local regulations were also discussed yesterday.

One covers travel agents and their ability to arrange public and commercial events.

(China Daily July 28, 2004)