Red Star News:

What is the current status of China's fourth national census on immovable cultural relics that began in November 2023, and what are the next steps in this initiative? Thank you.

Guan Qiang:

Thank you for your questions. The survey is now progressing smoothly, and it represents an important initiative and concrete action to implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee.

Since the census launched, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and through joint efforts across all localities and departments, we have achieved the "five completions." First, we've completed the establishment of census institutions, with leading groups and offices set up at national, provincial, municipal and county levels, providing strong organizational support for smooth implementation. Second, we've assembled the census team. More than 5,000 census teams comprising over 45,000 members have been established nationwide, double the number from the third national survey. Team members come from the Research Institute of Ancient Architecture, the Institute of Archaeology, the Institute of Cultural Relics Administration and various universities. Third, we've achieved full coverage in training. Census offices at all levels have organized and carried out training to ensure all team members are prepared before beginning their duties. Over 61,000 on-site training sessions were conducted, with some members receiving multiple sessions. This represents the largest industry training in cultural relics since the 18th CPC National Congress, divided into six major areas at the national level. Fourth, we've completed the whole-process pilot program. Pilot censuses were conducted at 95 cultural sites at national and provincial levels, providing valuable experience. Fifth, we've established comprehensive support systems. We've developed unified census standards, created census software and distributed equipment, including data collection tools. The 2024 census funds have been secured nationwide across all levels, ensuring strong support for the progress of the census.

At present, field surveys continue nationwide, with our census teams persevering through intense heat and challenging terrain to conduct their investigations. According to our data as of Sept. 23, since launching the fourth national census on immovable cultural relics, survey teams have reviewed over 253,000 immovable cultural relics – 33% of those documented in the previous census. They've also discovered more than 18,000 new relics, representing a 7.2% increase. These figures reflect our meticulous review of known cultural relics, careful discovery of previously unknown historical sites, and dedicated protection of Chinese civilization. We conduct weekly progress reviews and maintain multilevel supervision over the census at all levels. In particular, the period from September to November marks the prime season for field surveys.

In the next step, the office of the leading group for the fourth national cultural relics census will give priority to work in the following aspects. We will carry out on-site supervision. We will conduct on-site inspections and provide guidance at various locations, strengthen operational support, and provide technical assistance. We will enhance supervision and guidance in areas where progress is slow and new discoveries are insufficient. We will strengthen cooperation among departments, carry out joint research projects with census member units, consolidate the results of jointly issued documents, and deepen the census cooperation mechanism. We have jointly issued a notice with most member units, and specialized censuses in different fields will be expanded. Additionally, we will strengthen quality control, formulate measures for census quality management, and guide all localities in examining census data to ensure quality standards. We will also continue our publicity efforts. Recently, we organized media visits to various places to publicize the census, and we will continue providing timely updates on the latest progress and results to maintain positive public awareness. We encourage all media outlets to continue covering the fourth national census on immovable cultural relics. Thank you.