China to have more industrial heritage

China plans to put more old factories and workshops under state protection as industrial heritage sites, official sources said.

A survey will be started nationwide to discover potential industrial heritage, to help the country keep records of its industrialization, according to sources with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Factories, workshops, mining areas, production and storage facilities and other industrial venues that were built before 1980 are targeted.

Once confirmed valuable, the sites will be put under state protection, and some may be turned into industrial museums open to the public.

Zhang Feng, chief engineer of the ministry, said earlier in a forum that China was planning to standardize the management of industrial heritage and establish a federation of industrial museums.

In December 2017, the ministry released China's first batch of national-level industrial heritage, hoping to tap their historical value and inspire craftsmanship.

Yuzhou Ceramic Factory, one of the biggest state-run pottery plants, built in 1954 in Jingdezhen of Jiangxi Province, is on the heritage list. Although its production fully stopped in the mid-1990s, its facilities, equipment and furnaces have remained intact.

After renovation, the factory will turned into the Taoxichuan cultural and art center, a new landmark for the city dotted with art museums and traditional ceramic workshops.

Zhang Feng said that the heritage sites will not only preserve the country's industrial memory but also to inspire new ideas.