Like many other countries, China has seen its share of events that have endangered its rich cultural traditions. Civil strife, occupation and invasion by foreign nations, and the devastating effects of the Cultural Revolution led to the destruction and abandonment of physical cultural spaces of historical sites, structures, monuments, and objects, as well as intangible cultural spaces. China's economic recovery and growth beginning in the latter end of the 20th century brought on a new set of challenges to the conservation of cultural heritage, but it has brought a certain level of stability that has allowed the country to turn its focus on the cultural traditions and space that were unattended to during the tumult of civil political and economic unrest of the early and mid-20th century.

In December 2004 China ratified UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and in 2005, under the coordination of the Ministry of Culture, the System of Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage was held, from which the Office of Inter-Ministerial Joint conference1 was established to undertake its routine work. In 2008, the State Council established the Department of the Intangible Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture.

As of 2015, China has 38 elements inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The first batch of The National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China, released by the Ministry of Culture on 20 May 2006, included an ambitious 518 different "cultural heritages". The number of elements is testament to the tremendous variety of arts and culture found in a country as geographically vast, historically rich, and ethnically diverse as China. Such alacrity seems symptomatic of an earnestness to make reparations for the lost time of the last century, when more pressing national concerns sidelined cultural and heritage conservation efforts. It is also indicative of an underlying awareness that cultural conservation efforts have become a race against time: a race to transmit cultural knowledge and skills before the passing of the older generation who hold the skillset, and a race against the irreparable encroaches of certain aspects of modernization.

It is clear that in order for the many and varied cultural heritages of China to be given the comprehensive attention it deserves, local organizations, government and non-government alike, must play a significant role.

Alongside the Chinese elements listed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China has published its own national list which comprehensively records the Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritages. The selection process is mainly managed by the Chinese National Academy of Arts.

To be inscribed on the national list, applicants have to submit the following information to the Inter-ministerial Joint Conference¹:

1. Basic information: the location of the cultural heritage and other geographic information
2. Facts about the heritage unit: category, distributed area, the history of the cultural heritage, related art works, pedigree of cultural inheritance
3. Proof of the heritage unit: the characteristics, the value and the imminent threatened status of the intangible cultural heritage
4. Management of intangible cultural heritage: the person in charge, the sponsorship, the undertaken safeguard measures
5. Safeguard measures: a five-year safeguard plan

The Inter-ministerial Joint Conference will select the qualified submissions to the evaluation committee. The evaluation committee consists of officers and experts who are working in the related fields; they are responsible for selecting the qualified submissions and conducting professional discussions. After a series of strict and impartial selections, the evaluation committee will post the selected cultural heritages to the public for thirty days. Based on the comments and judgements given by the public and the evaluation committee, the Inter-ministerial Joint Conference will then release a draft nomination list. After getting the approval from The State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national list will be announced officially to the public.

The State Council will announce the national list once every two years. The intangible cultural heritages listed on the national list are supported by different government departments. At the same time, applicants also need to implement the policies stated in the safeguard plan and report the progress annually. The Inter-ministerial Joint Conference will access, examine and supervise the listed intangible cultural heritages. They are also responsible for warning the qualified applicants or disqualifying the applicants who failed to conduct the safeguard measures².

The national list can help safeguard and maintain the cultural inheritance of valuable Chinese intangible cultural heritages. It can also help promote and improve the prosperous Chinese culture, and last but not least, to encourage the citizens to pay more attention to the protection of such heritages in China.