China to Enhance Forbidden City Protection

A comprehensive plan to better preserve the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, has been approved by the State Council, China's cabinet, a museum official said Wednesday.

Curator Shan Jixiang said a series of projects will be carried out to enhance the protection of the museum's ancient 170,000-square-meter wooden building complex and its more than 1.8 million pieces of cultural relics.

According to the plan, major projects include remolding underground storehouses, restoring cultural relics and rebuilding infrastructure.

The move is meant to effectively address existing problems of insufficient storehouses and outdated infrastructure, as well as to reduce potential risks of fires, earthquakes, natural damage and theft, Shan said.

The plan states that the Palace Museum will be built into a first-class museum by 2020, when the former imperial palace will celebrate its 600th anniversary.

"The protection project aims at handing over an intact museum to another 600 years," Shan said.