Macao's world heritage bid clinched the rosy ending on Friday, as its historic community project entered the World Heritage List at the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee in Durban, South Africa.

Macao's government and people have been in a hard bid for the entry of the List since 1999, when it returned to motherland.

The Chinese special administrative region has since spent 150 million patacas (18.8 million US dollars) on some 100 programs for the protection and maintenance of the heritage sites.

The government formerly launched the heritage bid in 2002 and many cultural forums, functions and conferences have since been hosted here.

Macao's representatives have never skipped off the annual sessions of the World Heritage Committee since 2002.

Macao's concerned officials have also seized every opportunity to participate in international forums on heritage protection.

In 2001 the Cultural Institute hosted a forum on Asian architecture in Macao, inviting many internationally-famed experts here to evaluate Macao's historic architectural community.

In 2002 the special administrative region hugged in hundreds of experts in cultural heritage field here for a forum on protection of civic cultural relic.

The general public including school and university students also displayed enthusiasm in the heritage bid, as many publicity activities have been held non-stop in the city since the bid kicked off its start.

Macao's world heritage bid boasts a living representation of the city's historic settlement, encompassing architectural legacies interwoven in the midst of the original urban fabric that includes streetscapes and urban squares.

The bid comprises around two dozen monuments, including the Buddhist Ma Kok Temple, the Catholic Holy House of Mercy, the Old City Walls, the Fortress Hill and a number of churches.

Macao's proposed world heritage sites and monuments "are the products of over 400 years of cultural exchange between the western world and Chinese civilization," Ho Lai Chun, president of the Cultural Institute, told Xinhua prior to her departure for Durban.

A total of 42 new sites have been proposed for the inscription on the World Heritage List during the week-long session, which kicked off on July 10.

Source: Xinhua