At a Press Conference in Beijing, the Ministry of Culture announced that the First International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) will be held in Chengdu from May 23 to June 10 with the cosponsorship of Sichuan Provincial People's Government, China ICH Protection Center. This is the first international festival for ICH protection in China and in the world as well.

DING Wei, Assistant Minister of China's Ministry of Culture noted at the press conference that China has achieved many breakthroughs in ICH protection in the past few years. On May 20, 2006, the State Council promulgated the Notice on Announcement of the First Catalogue of National Intangible Cultural Heritage, listing 518 items in this first batch of ICH.

ICH protection is a new topic not only for China, but also for the rest of the world, said DING Wei. Today as modernization and globalization became our main theme, our culture should advocate for diversity, for preserving our ethnic root and for protecting our own tradition.

A five-day special meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will also convene in Chengdu during this festival.