Chinese cultural experts are discussing whether folk beliefs, such as feng shui and Mazu belief, are intangible cultural heritage (ICH), a Chinese culture official said Wednesday.

"Moves to include or exclude China's folk beliefs as government recognized ICH must be thoroughly discussed," Vice-Culture Minister Wang Wenzhang said at a press conference on progress in ICH preservation.

He made the comment when responding to a reporter's question whether feng shui would be nominated for the UNESCO Representative List of ICH.

Wang cited Mazu belief as an example. The ceremony to mark the birth of Mazu in southeastern Fujian Province is already listed as an ICH by China.

Mazu is named after a woman in ancient China's Song Dynasty (960-1279) who forecast the weather at sea and was later deified as as a goddess of the sea.

Mazu belief has been prevalent in Fujian and Taiwan for hundreds of years and has spread to other coastal areas in China. Fishermen, sailors and travelers pray to Mazu to keep them from dangers at sea. A growing number of people believe Mazu will bring them good luck in daily life.

The number of Mazu believers is estimated at more than 200 million worldwide.

Wang said the government would continue to seek expert advice, but ancient practices and beliefs, such as feng shui, required much research and deliberation.

Protection of folk beliefs were being considered in the drafting of a law aimed to protect the country's ICH, he said.

The government would put more efforts in the scientific protection of more than 870,000 Chinese ICH topics, instead of simply naming them in the ICH lists.

Scientific protection would be based on their unique characteristics and be in line with the distinctive rules of ICH transmission, Wang said.

China has the most ICH listings with UNESCO.

Wang said the government had spent 1.79 billion yuan (260 million U.S. dollars) on a series of protection projects.

However, Wang said, the increasing risks to the continued existence of ICH were common problems in many countries, and many that depended heavily on oral teaching to pass through generations were disappearing.

Many local governments emphasized nominations of local ICH, but spent less effort to actually protect them, Wang said. Excessive exploitation and development of the ICH also posed a threat to their continuation.

Protection and rescue should always go first and China would strengthen the review and supervision of local government efforts to protect listings, Wang said.

Warnings and penalties would be handed down to local governments if they failed to effectively protect them, Wang said.

A delicate balance between maintaining tradition and adjusting to social development was required, Wang stressed.

Wang said China would include the ICH in the national education system to raise awareness among the youngsters and the public.

He also said China would continue to cooperate with neighboring countries to nominate shared arts to the UNESCO ICH list.

The co-nomination of Chinese and Mongolia Urtiitn Duu, or traditional long folk song, an expression common to both Mongolia and China, was proclaimed a UNESCO intangible heritage in 2005.

Wang said China was working with Vietnam on another co-nomination, but he did not provide any details.