CHINA’S natural sites inscribed on the World Heritage List have brought about an annual income of over 14 billion yuan (US$2.16 billion) from tourism to local people, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said last week. China is currently home to a total of 14 natural world heritages and four cultural and natural heritages, ranking first in the world in both categories, according to statistics from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. Widely distributed throughout the country, China’s natural heritage sites protect around 70,500 square kilometers of natural spaces. They have also preserved cultural relics, intangible cultural heritage, as well as historical and cultural sites. Some 63 percent of the natural world heritage as well as cultural and natural heritage sites are in “good” and “better” conditions, while the figure is 89 percent in China, according to World Heritage Outlook 2020, an authoritative assessment report on the state of global heritage conservation by the World Heritage Committee’s advisory body, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The report also showed that 7 percent of these heritages around the world are in critical condition, while none of the heritages in China is in such circumstances. (SD-Agencies) | 