(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-18 09:34

A general plan for the protection of China's ancient geographical names has been completed, said a Chinese scholar.

"Geographical names that have been passed down orally in the past centuries preserve people's recognition and thinking methods specially connected to their natural and cultural environment," said Liu Baoquan, director of the Institute of Geographical Names under the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

"They are also part of the valuable properties of the Mankind," he said.

He said it is important and urgent for China to rescue ancient geographical names which is fading away along with rapid economic and social development.

The United Nations held its Ninth Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names in New York last month, and over 300 delegates from 91 countries attended the conference.

The conference passed a resolution to make geographical names an intangible cultural heritage.

In 2004, the institute organized an expert committee for the protection of geographical names. Since then, it has made initial progress in sizing up the number of ancient geographical names, relevant theories, and standards for identifying ancient geographical names.