Tech plays key role in relic protection, conference hears

The role of technology in protecting and studying cultural relics was highlighted at the national conference on cultural relics and technology, which was held in Beijing on Friday and Saturday.

In the run-up to the meeting , a guideline was issued to enhance scientific and technological innovations that can be applied in the field of cultural relics by 13 ministries in China, including the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

Officials and scholars at the conference expressed their ideas on the guideline and offered suggestions for how to better carry out it in the future.

Li Qun, director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said since the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), technology is playing an increasingly important role in supporting and leading the work to protect and study cultural relics.

He urged greater awareness that the protection of cultural relics relies on technology. He also stressed a focus on strengthening scientific and technological research in the field of cultural relics, cultivate more talented people for innovative development, continuously improve the platform system for cultural relics research, and enhance international cooperation in this field.

Those who named as “technical experts” at the National Vocational Skills Competition on Cultural Relics held this year were announced and honored at the conference.

The eighth batch of key scientific research bases of the National Cultural Heritage Administration were also named at the conference.