A Chinese official has called the public the "decisive power" in protecting the nation's cultural heritage, as some are threatened by the country's fast-paced modernization and urbanization.

Shan Jixiang, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), made the comments during a three-hour speech at a forum of the People's Daily. An excerpt from his speech was published in the newspaper Tuesday.

Shan called for efforts to mobilize the public to protect China's cultural heritage, as rapid development of cities forced some sites with ethnic and regional features to disappear, as buildings in cities look increasingly identical.

"If the masses will no longer cherish, protect and inherit cultural heritages, they would disappear quickly and their extinction will be irreversible," he said.

People today should not monopolize cultural heritages or even dispose of them at will; the people of tomorrow are also entitled to inherit these cultural heritages and learn from their ancestors through studying their cultural heritages, he said.

The official stressed it was important to protect the people's right to know, participate and benefit from the protection of cultural heritages.

Shan said cities were becoming more alike and "city memories" were fading as historical neighborhoods and traditional folk houses were leveled and destroyed amid urban redevelopment.

Additionally, the reckless utilization of natural resources and city development has polluted the environment and affected some cultural heritage sites; small and medium-sized cities blindly imitate metropolises in building new and grotesque architecture and skyscrapers only to lose their own identity, he said.