China pledges financial support for 'martyr tombs'

BEIJING -- A senior finance official announced Tuesday that the government will provide solid financial support for the protection of "martyr tombs", or places where revolutionary heroes are buried, across the country.

Special subsidies for their protection and maintenance, as well as the management costs of related facilities, should be included in government budgets in the future, said Wang Bao'an, vice-minister of finance, during a video conference held to discuss the initiative.

"We should never let financial difficulties stand in the way of protection," said Wang.

During the conference, civil affairs authorities also reaffirmed their goal of relocating 300,000 martyr tombs and renovating 2,000 cemeteries by the end of this year.

The central government has pledged to subsidize 5,000 yuan ($786) for each tomb and 200,000 yuan for each cemetery, while the rest will be covered by local authorities.

The protection project was launched in 2011 after a national survey revealed that 610,000 martyr tombs are not located in cemeteries. A total of 12,000 memorial facilities were found to be in poor condition.

The project is expected to be finished by Oct 1, 2014, with a mechanism to be put in place for management and protection, according to a previous statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.