Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on cultural heritage policies in China emerging in the period of the 11th and 12th Five Year Plans (FYPs). In particular, it investigates in depth one of the main issues the FYPs focus on: the development of large archaeological sites. The book focuses on a special research project run in 2012–14 by China Academy for Cultural Heritage, funded as a major program by the National Social Science Fund. It draws on the three-year field work done inside the public sector, providing a unique view inside the Chinese heritage sector, a sort of "a journey inside Chinese public administration". The chapter investigates the relationship between the policy and the institutional and administrative conditions that have a role in its dynamics–rarely investigated by heritage professionals, archaeologists, or historians all over the world–including institutional, budgeting, and land issues.