Gongchen Bridge on the Grand Canal in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/CFP]

East China's Zhejiang province recently published regulations on the protection of the Grand Canal as a world cultural heritage item, becoming the first Chinese province to do so.

The regulation was reviewed and approved at the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress on Sept 24. It will go into effect on Jan 1, 2021.

The regulation, consisting of 36 clauses, specifies the duties and requirements of the provincial, municipal, and county-level governments as well as cultural heritage administrations to protect the Grand Canal.

The provincial government will take into account local governments' performance in protecting the Grand Canal when evaluating their overall governing performance.

In addition, the week of June 22 will hence forth be designated as Zhejiang Grand Canal World Cultural Heritage Promotion Week. The Grand Canal was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site on June 22, 2014.

The Grand Canal begins in Beijing and passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, and Jiangsu before terminating in the city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, linking the Yellow River with the Yangtze River.

Zhejiang has nine sections of the Grand Canal that are protected as cultural relic sites. They are respectively located in the five prefecture-level cities of Hangzhou, Ningbo, Huzhou, Jiaxing, and Shaoxing. A total of 2,658 hectares of the canal are protected in the province.