Jingdezhen's World Heritage listing applauded

The successful inscription of China's Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites on the World Heritage List on July 25 is of global importance, officials and delegations at the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee told China Daily.

"The Jingdezhen site highlights another important dimension that was not really represented before concerning the artisan production," Alessandro Balsamo, head of the Nominations Unit at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, said.

Noting the previously listed industry sites on the World Heritage List were represented more by sites concerning mining or transportation, Balsamo said the new inscription opens up an important chapter in technological knowledge, skill, craftsmanship, and represents the cultural exchanges over centuries.

The Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites was inscribed on the World Heritage List during the 48th Session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO in Busan, South Korea, becoming China's 61th World Heritage site.

As Jingdezhen, located in East China's Jiangxi province, is often known as the "porcelain capital" of China, the recognition of the industry sites in the World Heritage List not only acknowledges the city's porcelain-making culture and artistry but also the important exchange between different civilizations and human values in the development of the porcelain-making industry, filling the "porcelain" gap in the World Heritage List.

"China's contribution to the World Heritage List is absolutely outstanding," Balsamo said, adding that the country's 61 World Heritage Sites are remarkable both in numbers and in the diversity of categories and subcategories represented from natural to cultural ones.

"It represents also a big responsibility because countries that have a high number of sites should set the model for other countries," Balsamo said.

In addition, Balsamo acknowledged Jingdezhen's efforts in heritage preservation through digital tools, such as creating the world's first ceramic gene bank.

"The efforts undertaken by Jingdezhen demonstrated that heritage preservation is not only about protecting physical sites, but also … the knowledge that is around the site," Balsamo said. "The use of technology in this sense is really important."

Noting there are very few sites on porcelain on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Jad Tabet, former representative of Lebanon to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, said the inscription is important because it is related to the artistic development of the whole world.

Tabet recalled that when he visited a museum in Jingdezhen years ago, he found some pieces of blue-and-white ceramics have the same style with the one he had at home from his father.

"I offered it to Jingdezhen … and they discovered that it was an original piece from the late 18th century," Tabet said. "Now it is in the museum and I have a certificate."

"Congratulations to all the Chinese and I would 'like to' say congratulations to all the world because we have a new, wonderful UNESCO World Heritage," Pablo Jimenez, a member of the Spanish delegation at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee, said.

Noting the transport of Chinese porcelain from the Philippine islands to Spain was one of the most important and luxurious traffic back in the 16th century, Jimenez said Chinese porcelain has always been an important product in world history.

Congratulating China on the inscription, Aseela Almoalla Alhashimi, director-general of the Fujairah Environment Authority and a member of the United Arab Emirates delegation, said it could also be a good chance for experience sharing between the UAE and China.

Sandra Mascarenhas, scientific coordinator of the Tarrafal Concentration Camp at the Cultural Heritage Institute of Cabo Verde, said she believes the newly added site from China will bring something new to humanity.