China's Sichuan steps up protection of Sanxingdui Ruins

Undated photo provided by the Sanxingdui Ruins sacrificial pits archaeological project shows a partial gold mask unearthed from the Sanxingdui Ruins site in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Sanxingdui Ruins sacrificial pits archaeological project/Handout via Xinhua)

CHENGDU, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- A local regulation has taken effect in southwest China's Sichuan Province as part of the province's latest efforts to ramp up protection of the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins site.

The regulation stipulates that cultural relics protection should be prioritized in the management of the Sanxingdui Ruins and that efforts should be made to balance relics protection and socio-economic development.

To avoid damage to cultural relics at the site, archaeological institutions should formulate protection plans and improve the management of relevant data, including texts and videos, according to the regulation.

The regulation was approved by the Standing Committee of the 13th Sichuan Provincial People's Congress in late July and came into effect on Wednesday.

The Sanxingdui Ruins, located in the city of Guanghan, are dubbed one of the greatest archeological finds of the 20th century. The site was accidentally discovered by a farmer when he was digging a ditch in the 1920s.

In 1986, a large number of unique relics were unearthed in the No. 1 and No. 2 pits of the site, arousing global interest. In October 2019, archaeologists discovered six new sacrificial pits. More than 1,000 significant relics have been unearthed so far.