The Australian launch of the bilingual translation of the Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China was held in Melbourne at the Chinese Museum on May 11, 2003. Parliamentary secretary for the environment and heritage of the Australian government, the Honorable Dr. Sharman Stone, officiated. In attendance were Tom Harley, chairman of the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC); Deng Zhonghua, China's cultural attaché in Melbourne; and Martha Demas and Neville Agnew from the GCI.

Following the formal launch, a seminar on the development and application of the China Principles was held in Sydney for local members of Australia ICOMOS. Former AHC Executive Director Sharon Sullivan and Senior Conservation Officer Kirsty Altenburg, key participants in the development of the Principles, participated in the seminar's panel discussion.

The GCI, the Chinese State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the Australian Heritage Commission worked for several years to develop the China Principles document—national guidelines for heritage conservation practice and management at cultural sites in China (see Conservation, vol. 16, no. 2). Workshops held in Australia—where the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter is used extensively to guide practice—played an important role in the process of drafting the Principles.

A publication of China ICOMOS, the bilingual translation was published by the GCI in late 2002. It includes an English-Chinese glossary and extensive commentary on the articles in the charter. As part of the dissemination of the China Principles, copies have been distributed to all national chapters of ICOMOS and to many practitioners and specialists in China and abroad. The bilingual translation is available on the Getty Web site at: www.getty.edu/conservation/publications/pdf_publications/
china_prin.pdf.