Policy digest

Plan issued for building national cultural parks

The general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council have issued a plan to build national cultural parks for the Great Wall, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Long March.

The plan was approved at a meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform on July 24, which was presided over by President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

The plan says the construction of the parks should be completed by the end of 2023, so that the relics and cultural resources of the Great Wall, the canal and the Long March will be better protected, inherited and utilized.

The parks should be managed efficiently, with clearly defined rights and responsibilities and inspection that conforms to standards, the plan also said.

The construction of the parks for the Great Wall covers 15 regions, including Beijing and Tianjin municipalities, Hebei and Shanxi provinces and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The construction of the parks for the canal covers eight regions, including Beijing, Tianjin and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, while the Long March parks spread across 15 regions, including Fujian, Jiangxi, Gansu and Qinghai provinces.

The plan requires revising the regulations on protecting the Great Wall and formulating regulations on protecting the canal and the cultural relics of the Long March.

It also says relevant provinces should carry out a comprehensive assessment of their cultural relics and formulate their own planning suggestions, as part of efforts to design specific plans for constructing the parks.

Local authorities should promote basic projects, including repairs, reconstruction and tourism, in order to protect and utilize the resources.

It also urged a sound construction and management system of the national cultural parks, and called for favorable policies and funds to support the parks.

Xinhua contributed to this story.