Beijing, June 28: Seeking to protect one of China's greatest landmarks from commercial encroachment, Beijing has restricted development close to the Great Wall of China and made it a crime to damage its structure, Chinese newspapers reported. No new development will be permitted within 500 metres of the wall while commercial activities within three kms of it must undergo a special approval process, the reports said quoting a new law passed Thursday. The law bans carving, painting, or plundering of stones or bricks from the wall and prohibits developers from setting up shops and stalls upon it, the Beijing Times reported. The law would represent the most concrete legislation to date protecting the 624 kilometres of wall within the district of Beijing from threats posed by economic development and growing number of visitors. Already, chunks of the wall have been carted away to build homes or knocked down to make room for roads and buildings. Developers lease land at the wall's base for hotels and houses while visitors strew garbage across its surface and carve their names into its bricks.
Bureau Report