Chinese intangible cultural heritage gains global recognition and economic momentum

China’s efforts to protect and promote its living traditions reached new heights in 2025 as international recognition, domestic transmission and market demand combined to reshape how intangible cultural heritage is sustained. The year brought fresh UNESCO honours, a surge in youth participation, and an expanding role for digital technology that together have turned tradition into a source of cultural confidence and economic opportunity.

Chinese intangible cultural heritage

In December 2025 the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage approved the nomination that moved the Hezhe Imakan from the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Hezhe protection plan was also added to the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, the first time China has achieved both outcomes at once. That takes China’s total entries on UNESCO’s lists and registers to 45, the largest number of listings globally.

The decision reflects years of coordinated effort. In 2011 only five people could fully perform Hezhe Imakan. Government-led programmes, community workshops, language classes and the production of teaching materials have expanded the roster of inheritors to 121. Digital resources and classroom instruction have helped young Hezhe people reconnect with their language and arts, while the documented protection plan now serves as a practical model other countries can adapt.

Recognition at UNESCO has also had knock-on effects for national festivals. Following the inclusion of the Spring Festival as a Representative List item in 2024, the 2025 lunar new year was widely described as the first “intangible heritage edition” of the holiday. Broadcasters staged non-material heritage galas, hundreds of traditional crafts and performances were showcased, and film and television leaned on techniques such as throat singing and multipart folk song to reach mass audiences. Authorities reported more than 43,000 related events across China during the festival period, with offline participation exceeding 400 million and more than 500 international events under the “Happy Spring Festival” banner.

Transmission capacity has grown steadily. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced 942 new national-level inheritors in its sixth batch of designated practitioners, bringing the national total to 3,997. Targeted training programmes have entered their tenth year, producing a generation of practitioners who pair traditional mastery with contemporary design and media skills. Young inheritors have played a visible role in making heritage appealing to new audiences.

Market mechanisms have strengthened sustainability. Campaigns such as seasonal shopping months and heritage brand promotion weeks combined online and offline sales channels. Platforms including Taobao, Tmall and Douyin opened channels and marketing support for workshops and practitioners. Reported figures show headline events delivering hundreds of millions of yuan in sales and national promotion weeks generating over a billion yuan. More than 12,900 heritage workshops now operate nationwide, creating jobs in former poverty counties and establishing small industrial clusters.

Digital archives have made preservation more systematic. Over a decade practitioners and researchers captured more than 75,000 hours of raw materials, produced some 20,000 hours of audiovisual records and accrued nearly 470,000 documentary items. Thousands of inheritors have a recorded digital footprint, enabling research, remote learning and broader public access beyond traditional performance settings.

China’s combined approach of state support, community participation, market integration and technological innovation provides a pragmatic blueprint for safeguarding living traditions. In 2025, intangible cultural heritage has not only remained relevant but has taken on a modern vitality that connects cultural stewardship with social and economic goals.