The ancient Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has been advised to be protected in the same way as the Great Wall, Wu Jianmin, spokesman for the full session of China's top advisory body, said Friday at a press conference.

A 40-member panel of political advisors and experts, who inspected the entire canal last May, have called for urgent and extensive protection of canal, said Wu, spokesman for the Fifth Session of the Tenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The panel conducted the inspection after 58 political advisors, or CPPCC members, jointly proposed measures last March to start protecting the canal immediately and apply for its world heritage status in five years.

The proposal has won attention from the State Council and provinces and cities along the canal.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Silk Road and the relic sites of ancient breweries have been included into a new list awaiting application for the World Heritage.

The Tenth CPPCC National Committee has arranged a collective interview on the Grand Canal during its fifth annual session, which will be held from March 3 to 15.

Linking Hangzhou and Beijing, the 1,794-km canal is the longest artificial waterway in the world. Parts of the canal began to be dug in the fifth century B.C. and the full canal had been serving as a major south-north artery of transport after being completed in the 13th century.

The canal still has 1,000-km navigable waterway, with each of four major ports handling more than 30 million tons of freight annually. The rest parts of the canal have dried out, stagnated or been built over.

In comparison, the Great Wall has been put under state key protection in China. It was put on the list of the World Heritage sites of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1987.

Following the Law on Protection of Cultural Relics, the central and local governments have enacted a series of laws and regulations on protecting the Great Wall and cracking down on illegal activities in areas along the wall.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2007)