CHINA is determined to make extra efforts to protect its traditional and historic villages, as a large number of them have been demolished amid rapid urbanization.

    Historic buildings should not be removed but instead put under careful protection, said Zhao Hui, director of the rural construction department of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

    “Today we have launched works to protect traditional villages as a whole, including tangible and intangible cultural heritage,” he said. “Therefore, historic buildings should not be removed but gradually repaired and improved.”

    Zhao was speaking at a news conference held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing on improving the rural environment and strengthening the protection of ancient villages.

    His comments came just months after kung-fu film star Jackie Chan said he intended to donate more ancient Chinese houses to Singapore.

    Chan bought 10 antique sandalwood houses in Anhui Province about 20 years ago and said he had planned to refurbish them for his parents to live in. When his parents died before the work was complete, the film star decided to donate them. He donated four of the houses to the Singaporean Government in 2010, which gave them to the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

    Chinese media and netizens expressed concern about the future of Chinese historic buildings after Chan said he was impressed by the Singaporean recipients’ excellent preservation work and planned to donate the rest to the university this year.

    Chan has since changed his mind and announced that he would donate at least four homes from the collection to Yizhuang, a town in Beijing’s Daxing District, in September, according to media reports.

    A national survey in 2012 showed the vast majority of traditional villages have disappeared amid China’s urbanization and only about 12,000 were left, accounting for less than 2 percent of the country’s total administrative villages, Zhao said.

    He also said experts estimate that less than 5,000 traditional villages with important conservation value still exist.

    Zhao stated that there are three types of villages which can be classified as traditional: those that have abundant historic buildings; those with rich tangible or intangible cultural relics; or those that boast architecture and characteristics that reflect China’s agricultural civilization.

    The Central Government will speed up designing a long-term plan on the protection and development of traditional villages with measures including financial and technical support from the government. (SD-Agencies)