A review of risk management development for cultural relics conservation in China

Risk management in cultural heritage conservation serves as the core pathway for achieving sustainable transmission of cultural heritage. In this paper, we systematically review the development and progress of risk management studies in China's cultural heritage conservation. In the field of immovable cultural relics, the risk management model has evolved from an empirical emergency response to a systematic engineering approach that integrates multi-source monitoring technologies and intelligent algorithms. This has led to breakthroughs in dynamic quantitative assessment of multi-hazards and preventive mitigation strategies. For movable cultural relics, through the localized adaptation of international risk assessment models, a preventive protection framework has been established covering environmental control, material degradation prediction, and seismic protection systems. However, new challenges have emerged, such as ownership risks associated with digital collectibles. Current risk management research still faces bottlenecks, including insufficient applicability at grassroots levels, a lack of value quantification tools, and inadequate coverage of non-traditional risk sources. Future efforts should focus on technological democratization, innovation in assessment methodologies, and flexible institutional design to establish a Chinesestyle risk governance paradigm with hierarchical prevention and control, serving the national cultural security strategy.