Four intangible cultural heritage items will be included onto the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Hong Kong, raising the total number of items on the list to 24, the Leisure & Cultural Services Department today announced.

The four items are Lantern Lighting Ritual, Tai Po Night Dragon Boat Parade, Yu Lan Festival, and Guangcai (Canton Famille Rose Porcelain) Making Technique.

Meanwhile, 34 new items will be integrated into the relevant main items and sub-items in the first Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory, increasing the total number of items from 480 to 507.

The department noted that Article 12 of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH of the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization stipulates that "to ensure identification with a view to safeguarding, each State Party shall draw up, in a manner geared to its own situation, one or more inventories of the intangible cultural heritage present in its territory. These inventories shall be regularly updated."

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government collected public views from August to September about the proposed items for inclusion in the two lists.

After considering all views received, the ICH Advisory Committee deliberated and reorganised the proposed list. The updated lists were accepted by the Hong Kong SAR Government and promulgated today.

The department explained that the Representative List provides the Government with a basis for prioritising its resources and safeguarding measures for ICH items, especially those of high cultural value and with an urgent need for preservation.

The four new items inscribed on the Representative List have been included in the ICH Inventory, it added.