The Chinese Policies Toward The Preservation And Management Of China’s Cultural Heritage:the Inscription Of The West Lake Cultural Landscape Of Hou On The UNESCO World Heritage Sites List

The great and ancient wealth of China’s archaeological and historic legacy has come under new pressures, and cultural heritage authorities at national, provincial, and local levels are hard pressed to meet these challenges. In this research I have briefly reviewed main features of Chinese heritage, besides having analyzed what should be considered as’heritage’and the difference in the concept of’heritage’between east and west.In analyzing the case of West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou I have been willing to show a successful example of valorization of the Chinese heritage that achieve the task of preservation thanks to the implementation of a sound legal and regulatory framework and to the cooperation among institutions both at nation and international level. Based on specific parameters that are well established at global scale, laws and agreements help the preservation succeed.The legal framework and various regulations and master plans for the protection and management of the West Lake Cultural Heritage of Hangzhou analyzed show how, from the time of inscription on the Tentative List, the Chinese authorities at all levels have pursued a policy toward the implementation of a sound legal framework and a clear management structure.