China steps up supervision over protection of Great Wall

BEIJING -- China's cultural heritage authority has wrapped up this year's inspections of the Great Wall in eight provincial-level regions, saying that protection still needs to be improved.

According to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the provinces of Jilin, Henan and Qinghai, as well as Inner Mongolia autonomous region either did not provide sufficient funds to protect the Wall or failed to fully use the money.

A total of nine counties and districts in Liaoning Province in the northeast did not employ any staff to protect the Great Wall.

None of the eight provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities had provincial level regulations on the protection of the Wall.

Yue Zhiyong, an official in charge of supervision with the administration, said authorities in these regions should establish long-term mechanisms to explore the social, spiritual and economic value of the Great Wall.