The Palace Museum Photo: VCG

 
The inaugural meeting of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Conservation (ISO/TC 349) was held on May 13 at the Palace Museum.

Attending the meeting were Cao Chenghuan, President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO); Li Qun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Director General of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH); Tian Shihong, Director General of the National Standardization Administration (NSA); and other important leaders and guests. The meeting was chaired by Lu Jin, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Li Qun pointed out at the meeting that the China proposed Global Civilization Initiative provides a fundamental guideline for cultural heritage conservation. He emphasized that the Chinese government has always attached great importance to cultural heritage and is committed to promoting the integration and development of modern science and technology with traditional crafts to enhance the capacity and level of cultural heritage conservation.

This committee was proposed by China and officially approved in March 2024. It is the first technical committee established by ISO in the field of global cultural heritage conservation since its establishment in 1947. It aims to gather global consensus on cultural heritage, share best practices, and jointly promote the international standardization of cultural heritage conservation.

The establishment of ISO/TC 349 has injected new vitality into the protection of global cultural heritage, marking an important step in China's international standardization work in this field.