Chinese Express Interest in Dutch Monument Policy

At the end of April, a Chinese delegation of heritage experts visited the Netherlands. The purpose of their visit was to learn more about the Dutch policy on monuments and heritage.

Only this month, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, urged his country to protect China’s national heritage and warned about the conflicting interests of economic growth. Xi called for a better awareness of the importance of preserving cultural values when developing new projects for tourism and construction.

In China, the Netherlands is seen as a compact country with a very thorough and progressive monument policy. The Chinese follow the Dutch practice of ‘preservation through development’ with interest. In addition to talking with representatives of municipalities that feature large monuments, the delegation also met with Minister Bussemaker.

The working visit concluded with a Chinese-Dutch heritage forum in Haarlem, which included discussions on special restoration projects, such as a recent instance in the town of Sittard-Geleen, where a Chinese investor bought a municipal monument and is realising its reallocation together with the town.

The forum was organised at the request of the Chinese Embassy and the China Cultural Media Group by IVEM, Institute for Heritage & Marketing in close cooperation with DutchCulture. Plans are being developed for a further exchange between China and the Netherlands on the theme of built heritage and its reallocation.