Hong Kong Economic Herald:

Historical and cultural heritage carries the gene and bloodline of the Chinese nation. Over the decade, China has systematically sought to protect, utilize and maintain historical and cultural heritage in the country's urban and rural construction. What efforts have been made by the ministry to enhance the work in this regard? Thank you.

Li Xiaolong:

Thank you for your question. It is our responsibility to history and the people to protect and carry forward historical and cultural heritage. We have implemented the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and continued to strengthen the protection and inheritance of historical and cultural heritage. At present, China has 140 state historical and cultural cities, 312 historical and cultural towns, 487 historical and cultural villages and 6,819 traditional villages, more than 1,200 historical and cultural blocks, and 59,500 historical buildings, making them the most comprehensive, complete and systematic carrier for carrying forward traditional Chinese culture.

First, we have established a system for protection and inheritance and formed a systematic protection model. The concept of the system involves a time span covering the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization, including the ancient time, 180 years of modern and contemporary history, 100 years since the founding of the Communist Party of China, 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and 40 years of reform and opening-up. Meanwhile, it also involves coverage, where all that ought to be designated for protection shall be designated and all that ought to be protected shall be protected. We had done a lot of jobs before the concept of the system was rolled out. Last August, the Opinions on Strengthening the Protection and Inheritance of Historical and Cultural Heritage in Urban and Rural Construction was issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council. The document clarified the protection of historical and cultural cities, towns and villages (traditional villages), blocks and immovable cultural relics, historical architecture and streets, industrial, agricultural, irrigation and intangible cultural heritage and the cultural heritage of place names. The complete system has formed a systematic protection model.

Second, we insist on promoting protection by utilization. Urban and rural historical and cultural heritage are closely linked to ordinary people's lives. For example, Chinese traditional construction methods, whether a mix of brick and wood or a wooden structure, decay more easily the less you use them. Therefore, a question worth thinking about is how we can protect these cultural relics whilst making good use of them. Now, we encourage all localities to adopt the approach to promote protection by putting them into use, and make historical and cultural resources be utilized and come alive through refined transformation. By doing so, on the one hand, we can protect cultural relics. On the other hand, we can resolve the pressing difficulties and problems of the most significant concern to the people and make their living more convenient. Some places have achieved good results by adopting this approach and the relic sites have now become popular among internet users after transformation and renovation.

Third, we strengthen supervision and management. To improve the protection of famous historical and cultural cities, towns and villages, it is imperative to supervise and inspect. Regarding destructive behaviors such as large-scale demolition and reconstruction, we have promptly investigated, punished and issued circulated notices to criticize, reversing this bad tendency and the malpractice of demolishing relics and constructing replicas, in a timely manner. At the same time, we have established a special evaluation system for the normalized protection of famous historical cities. Starting this year, we will guide each of such cities to complete yearly self-assessments.

Going forward, the MOHURD will work with relevant departments to speed up the improvement of the urban and rural historical and cultural heritage protection and inheritance system. We will wholly and systematically protect historical and cultural heritage, and strive to do an excellent job in the protection and inheritance of urban and rural historical and cultural heritage in the new era, so that urban and rural areas can retain their memories and the public can enjoy the nostalgia. Thank you!

Cover News:

Construction has a high energy consumption, but it also has a high energy saving potential. May I ask what measures our country has taken to promote the rapid development of energy efficiency of buildings and green architecture, and encourage energy conservation and emission reduction in the construction sector? What results have been achieved? Thank you.

Li Rusheng:

Well, thank you for your questions. Indeed, the construction sector is an important area of China's energy consumption and carbon emissions. It is also vital for China to achieve peak carbon emission and carbon neutrality. I would like to answer your questions on expanding the construction of eco-friendly buildings, promoting the energy efficiency of buildings, adjusting energy structures and improving the green standards.

First, we have expanded the construction industry through green architecture. The coverage area of newly built green buildings nationwide has increased from 4 million square meters in 2012 to more than 2 billion square meters in 2021. In 2021, the proportion of newly built green buildings in urban areas that year reached 84%, and the cumulative number of projects that have obtained green building labels reached 25,000. Currently, 2,134 green building materials products have obtained certification labels, which has driven the coordinated development of related industries and has extended and widened the construction industrial chain.

Second, we improved the lives of residents through the energy efficiency of buildings. We vigorously promoted building energy efficiency and raised the energy efficiency standard for residential buildings in northern China from an energy saving rate of 50% in 2012 to 75%. By the end of 2021, urban energy-efficient buildings had reached 27.7 billion square meters. According to the monitoring results, the residential buildings that have undergone energy-saving renovation can increase the indoor temperature by 3-5 degrees Celsius in winter and decrease it by 2-3 degrees Celsius in summer, improving the living comfort of residents.

Third, we have made the residential environment greener by adjusting the energy consumption structure. By the end of 2021, China's buildings' solar thermal energy application area reached 5.066 billion square meters, and the installed solar photovoltaic capacity reached 18,200 megawatts. The shallow geothermal energy application building area was about 467 million square meters, and urban buildings' renewable energy replacement rate reached 6%, effectively reducing carbon emissions.

Fourth, we have strengthened the industry's competitiveness by improving building energy efficiency standards. We have promulgated and implemented a series of standard specifications for the energy efficiency of buildings, green architecture and building materials. These include the "General Code for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Application in Buildings," "Assessment Standard for Green Building," "Technical Standard for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings," and "Green Product Assessment - Wood-based Panels and Wooden Flooring," which have enhanced the competitiveness of the construction industry and created conditions for the "Built by China" brand to go global.

Going forward, we will adhere to the priority of ecology and conservation, implement the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and promote energy efficiency of buildings, green architecture and green construction. We will accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation and development of urban and rural construction and put a green label on "Built by China" to contribute to building a beautiful China. Thank you.