On Wednesday, Shanxi authorities released a set of regulations revising the province's policies on the protection and advancement of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) during a press conference in Taiyuan, the provincial capital.

Consisting of 36 articles, the revised regulations establish the principle of "protection first, rescue first, rational utilization, and inheritance and development". Under the regulations, governments at or above the county level are required to establish coordination mechanisms and strengthen overall guarantees on the protection of intangible cultural heritage.

In 2012, Shanxi became one of the first provinces in the country to introduce regulations for ICH protection. However, as the economy and society have developed, the original regulations are no longer able to meet the needs of ICH work, according to Wang Biao, deputy director of the education, science, culture, and health working committee of the Standing Committee of the Shanxi Provincial People's Congress.

Wang said that these revisions solidify the ICH development from the past decade and set the province up to become a dynamic cultural destination.

Sun Jiangang, a member of the Standing Committee, stated that the regulations focus on protecting ICH projects that reflect Shanxi's culture, such as opera, folk song and dance, and cuisine, among others.

The changes also target tourism, according to Zhang Zhiren, a member of the Party group and deputy director of the province's culture and tourism department. Zhang explained that the next step will be to continue promoting the "Travel with Intangible Cultural Heritage" brand and the "Shanxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Good Products".

The regulations were passed during the recent 27th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th Shanxi Provincial People's Congress, and will come into effect on June 1.

Shanxi has 182 representative national ICH projects and 198 inheritors, with both figures ranking third in the country.