China's Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, which falls on the second Saturday of June every year, is celebrated on June 11 this year.
President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has on many occasions stressed the significance of protecting cultural and natural heritage.
The following are some highlights of Xi's remarks.
-- Historical and cultural heritage is a valuable resource that is neither renewable nor replaceable, and its protection should always be given top priority.
-- We need to ensure that cultural relics and heritage play their own role in cultural development and create a social atmosphere that facilitates efforts to carry on our fine traditional culture.
-- The world's cultural and natural heritage is an important outcome of the development of human civilization and natural evolution, and an important vehicle for exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations.
-- History and culture are the soul of a city and people should cherish historical and cultural heritage as treasuring their own lives.
-- We must properly handle the relationship between urban reconstruction and development and the protection and utilization of historical and cultural heritage, and ensure that urban development and heritage protection are well coordinated.