China claims 55 sites of UNESCO world heritages with elected new site
By Agencies Published: Jul 06, 2019 05:55 PM
China's Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City was on Saturday put on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural site, bringing the total number of its heritage sites on the list to 55.
The decision to add the Chinese cultural site, which is located in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage List was supported by the World Heritage Committee members at its ongoing 43rd session in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
"We are proud that after 25 years of preparation, our efforts have finally led to the successful inscription of this exceptionally important property, which is the most concrete testimony of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization," said Shen Yang, ambassador and permanent delegate of China to the UNESCO.
"We are keenly aware that the inscription also entails an enormous responsibility for conserving this heritage of humanity," he added.
Sitting on a plain criss-crossed by river networks in the Yangtze River Basin, the nominated property of Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City includes the archaeological remains of Liangzhu City (3,300 BC-2,300 BC), which was once the center of power and belief of an early regional state in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in Late Neolithic China.
The property testifies to the existence of a regional state with a unified belief system and supported economically by rice-cultivating agriculture in late Neolithic China over 5,000 years ago. It also represents an early urban civilization with complex functions and structures.