Six institutions have recently been removed from China's list of state intangible cultural heritage protectors for failing to exercise their duties, announced the Ministry of Culture on Tuesday.
Another two institutions were warned and required to correct their wrongdoing within a certain deadline, according to a statement from the ministry.
Also, the ministry placed new institutions in charge of protecting 97 items in the state intangible cultural heritage list for administrative reasons, the statement added.
It is the first time the ministry has disqualified institutions from the scheme since China first introduced the state intangible cultural heritage list in 2006 in an effort to preserve endangered cultural heritage.
The list now contains 1,219 items in 10 categories, including folk literature, folk music and dance, traditional opera, ballad singing, cross talk, acrobatics, folk fine arts, traditional handicrafts, traditional medicine and folk-custom.
The central and local governments offer special funds for the institutions in charge of protecting and promoting the intangible cultural heritage items.
In 2011, the country adopted its first law specialized on the protection of intangible cultural heritage.
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