Protection for Peking Man site boosted

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 ◆ Protection for Peking Man site boosted

World Heritage Site, the Zhoukoudian Peking Man Ruins will be co-managed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Beijing municipal government in a bid to boost protection.

The site where the first skull of Peking Man dating back 500,000 years ago was discovered, last year was reported to be at risk of being damaged.

The deterioration was blamed on lack of maintenance funds and inadequate management by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under CAS.

According to an agreement signed in Beijing recently, CAS is to focus on research and development of the site. The Beijing municipal government will take over the maintenance responsibility and extend protection control to surrounding areas.

A coordination committee will be established by both parties to direct preservation work.

Special funds are earmarked to renovate the Zhoukoudian Museum, closed for more than half a year due to lack of funding, the agreement says.

The site in Beijing's southwest suburbs stores evidence of the earliest human's use of fire and is known as the only site showing continuous prehistoric human activity between 500,000 and 10,000 years ago. However, six valuable intact skulls were lost during World War II.