BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- China will expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI), satellite remote sensing, drones, 3D modeling and virtual reality as part of a new five-year plan aimed at protecting and preserving cultural heritage.
The cultural heritage protection and inheritance plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, proposes upgrading equipment for cultural relics conservation and strengthening technical support for the protection of historic buildings, grottoes, ancient murals, rock art, earthen sites, ancient books and archival materials.
Home to more than 760,000 immovable cultural relics and about 108 million pieces (or sets) of state-owned movable cultural relics, China is using technology to help survey, monitor and protect its vast cultural heritage resources.
The growing use of AI and other digital technologies is also changing how cultural heritage is protected, with experts noting a shift from simply recording and monitoring sites toward earlier risk detection.
A recent example is Wenwu-01, China's first remote-sensing monitoring satellite dedicated to cultural heritage protection, which was launched in June.
The satellite is designed to monitor changes in the environment surrounding heritage structures, using high-resolution imaging and an AI recognition model to detect changes such as abnormal construction activities. It can also provide long-term monitoring of risks including landslides, floods, wind-sand erosion and land subsidence.
A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
The plan sets out 33 major tasks for cultural heritage protection and inheritance from 2026 to 2030, placing technological innovation within a systematic framework that also covers archaeological work, intangible cultural heritage, museums and international cooperation.
It aims to bring archaeological work forward in the development process, particularly where construction may affect underground cultural heritage. The plan requires archaeological surveys before major development projects and calls for integrated protection of cultural relics and their historic settings.
China now has 45 elements inscribed on UNESCO's lists and register of intangible cultural heritage, including silk craftsmanship, acupuncture and tea-processing techniques. More than 100,000 items are recognized on national, provincial, prefectural and county-level intangible cultural heritage lists.
Therefore, the plan places particular emphasis on their preservation. It calls for stronger protection and inheritance of traditional festivals, crafts, opera, folk arts, music, dance and traditional sports, while encouraging contemporary forms of expression and new settings for experiencing traditional culture.
The plan further calls for deeper international cooperation on cultural heritage, including bilateral cooperation, joint archaeological projects and international exhibitions on Chinese civilization.
It also encourages efforts to trace and facilitate the return of Chinese cultural relics lost overseas, while strengthening cooperation with UNESCO and other international organizations and multilateral mechanisms. ■
