According to the draft statute on the protection of historical and cultural cities, towns and villages, people who are responsible for damaging the outlook, environment and historical features of such cities, towns or villages will be severely punished.

Relevant institutions can be fined up to one million yuan (131,500 U.S. dollars), and individuals might be fined for a maximum of 200,000 yuan, the draft says.

Movie production teams must get approval from the authorities before they move into historical sites, and make protection plans.

The 51-clause draft statute says urban and rural development plans should be drawn up in line with the principles of cultural heritage protection.

The draft asks local governments to make greater efforts to protect cultural heritage by "maintaining their real nature and integrity", and "find a point of balance between protection and development."

Governments at city and county-level are asked to survey buildings of historical value in their regions and put up signs.

In 1982, the State Council approved the first batch of "historical cities". They were capitals in ancient times, or places where major historical events took place.

China has 107 "historical cities" by the end of March this year.

Accelerating urbanization is destroying China's cultural and architectural heritage as some local governments dismantled valuable historical sites and erected fake replacements, or built large, new and exotic buildings.

The draft also demands local governments to set aside special funds to finance the protection of historical sites.

Statistics show that China earmarked a combined 189 million yuan for cultural heritage protection from 2001 to 2005. But the funds allocated for 2006 alone reached 149 million yuan.