Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu

• Deliberate destruction of heritage
• Housing (Redevelopment of traditional housing)
• Management systems/management plan (issue resolved)

On 1 December 2017, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report. An executive summary of this report is available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/704/documents/. The report outlines progress with a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions, as follows:

• The Panchi Pond project in the buffer zone has been suspended by the Qufu government to permit further modifications;
• Recent projects have been limited to restorations (Dacheng Gate, East and West wing rooms of the Temple of Confucius, Pavilion of Thirteen Steles) and small-scale improvements to infrastructure. There have been no new large-scale construction projects within the property or its Buffer Zone. The large Confucius Museum, which is expected to open in 2018, is located 5 km away from the property;
• A stricter project approval process has been demanded of local authorities by the State Party, including Heritage Impact Assessments;
• An improved monitoring system will be implemented in three years to provide more timely and scientific information about the property and its Buffer Zone;
• The Management Plan of Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu was completed in 2016. It includes a specific chapter on the protection standards and requirements for the property and its Buffer Zone;
• Various plans and technical guidelines for city development, community involvement and urban construction have been developed to encourage the sustainable development of the property.

The State Party has outlined a number of positive accomplishments made since 2015 to improve the state of conservation and management of the property. Achievements include suspending the Panchi Pond project to allow further reconsideration; encouraging a more rigorous approval process; completing the Management Plan as well as undertaking a series of plans and guidelines aimed at encouraging sustainable development. The development of an improved monitoring system is likewise commendable, but it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to examine whether it may be possible to reduce the three-year implementation timeframe. No new project documentation has been received since the last Committee decision; the planning document and the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) mentioned in the current report are evidently the ones received as Annex I and Annex II of the state of conservation report submitted by the State Party in November 2015.

It is recommended that the Committee encourage the State Party to work towards a final resolution of the Panchi Pond project, in accordance with decisions made about the Detailed Planning and Building Scheme for the Construction Project in the Area of the Ancient Panchi Pond in the Buffer Zone of the World Heritage Site in Qufu and the accompanying HIA, which were submitted to China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage and to the World Heritage Centre in 2015 and were commented on by the Committee at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016).

It is further recommended that the Committee request the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, the 2016 Management Plan of Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu.