Intangible cultural heritage protection boosts soft power

The Chinese government has attached great importance to intangible cultural heritage since the founding of New China in 1949. Which has not only raised the status of folk artists but also made them part of the mainstream and integral to national events.

In 1979, the then Ministry of Culture (now the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), National Ethnic Affairs Commission and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles jointly launched a 30-year program to compile a comprehensive list of China's intangible cultural heritage and classify them into 10 groups, including folk songs, dramatic folk music, instrumental music, folk dance, folktales and ballads, so as to better protect the nation's folk heritage.

The compilation of "the complete works of Chinese traditional crafts" began in 1997, two years after the establishment of the Traditional Chinese Craft Research Union. The year 1997 also saw the State Council, China's Cabinet, issuing regulations on the protection of traditional arts and crafts.