Since the World Heritage Committee counted the area of the confluence of three major rivers in southwest China's Yunnan Province on the list of natural heritages last year, China now boasts 29 sites on the world heritage list.

Minister of Construction Wang Guangtao said in Beijing Tuesday that China has been taking substantial and effective steps to protect these precious scenery resources.

In 2003, China launched a movement to fight illegal destructive activities on the national scenic spots and historic sites. In the movement, a total of 1,686 illegal cases have been sternly dealt with.

China's local governments have also been active in protecting local world heritage and scenic spots.

Southwest China's Sichuan province, which has four sites on the world heritage list, set forth some new methods and polices of protecting its local scenic spots and historic places of historical interest.

One policy is that visitors must make appointments before their trips, which has proven to be effective in limiting the number of visitors and thus reducing the destruction to the scenic spots, according to Sichuan provincial construction officials.

Sichuan has also closed some small hydropower stations and coalpits in the scenic spots and spread the use of clean fuels to improve the environment of the scenic spots.

The announcement of a new regulation in late 2003 on the protection of historic and cultural towns and buildings marks a new significant step of the Ministry of Construction to protect the national scenery resources, said Wang.

Wang said that in mid 2004, the 28th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee, will be held in Suzhou, a scenic destination in east China's Jiangsu Province.

China will take this opportunity to further push the protection of its world heritage and natural scenic spots, said Wang.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2004)