China's cultural relics preservation goes digital

China will use more digital methods to preserve the county's moveable cultural relics and make the information available to more people.

A national database of moveable cultural relics will be open to the public soon and the public will be encouraged to take part in the cultural preservation, according to a report in the Thursday edition of People's Daily, flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China.

An initial survey of moveable cultural relics kept in government agencies, military and public institutions has been completed and this year the work will focus on identification and registration of items, Song Xinchao, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, told the newspaper.

China has launched a nationwide investigation into moveable cultural relics last year, covering more than 1.5 million public institutions. The census is scheduled to conclude in 2016.

The report quoted Zhang Liang, a local cultural relics surveyor in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, as saying that the census is not easy as many institutions were reluctant to declare what they have, although the authorities have clearly announced that the survey will not affect the ownership of the items. Moreover, lack of proper technology, professional personnel and funds are problems.

Despite the difficulties, the census is proving productive and helping authorities understand the situation.

Some precious items under very poor protection have been rediscovered during the survey.

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