China issues revised regulations to protect underwater cultural relics

BEIJING - Premier Li Keqiang has signed a State Council decree to promulgate the revised regulations on the protection of underwater cultural relics.

The regulations will take effect on April 1 and lay down requirements to strengthen the conservation and management of underwater cultural relics given new circumstances in recent years.

The regulations focus on establishing a clearly defined management system and law enforcement mechanism to protect underwater cultural relics while fine-tuning related measures to address salient problems in practice.

All individuals and units must protect underwater cultural relics per the law, and various sectors should pool efforts to forge better synergy in this regard, says the document.