China starts campaign to strengthen protection for cultural relics

China will launch a new campaign to improve protection of cultural relics as part of its efforts to boost domestic confidence in the country’s culture and increase its international allure.

The Communist Party’s publicity department recently issued a notice asking officials and cadres at all levels to “comprehensively enhance” protection of historic cultural relics, after President Xi Jinping highlighted the issue during a visit to Pingyao, a historic town in Shanxi and Unesco World Heritage Site.