The Legal Protection of Cultural Heritage: International Experience and Practice of Macau

Since the return of Macao to the mainland and the opening-up of the right of gambling, it has been troubled by its dependence on an exclusive gaming industry and a single economic structure. In January 2009, the National Development and Reform Commission made Macao as a "World tourism and leisure center". In July 2005, Historic Centre of Macao was formally registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List, which has since then been giving a new significance for the sustainable development of tourism, as well as the development and protection of cultural heritage as resources. On the basis of surveying the history of cultural preservation legislation in Macao, the paper evaluates the 2009 "Cultural Heritage Protection Law (Draft)".