BEIJING, July 22 -- Chinese authorities have pledged to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage from disasters caused by floods and enhance disaster mitigation and relief work.

According to an official circular, the disaster prevention and protection of immovable cultural relics and historic and cultural cities, blocks and villages identified as cultural heritage will be strengthened, the National Cultural Heritage Administration said on Monday.

The circular requires efforts to inspect potential safety risks posed to cultural relics, including ancient buildings, ruins, tombs and grottoes as well as gardens and villages.

Effective rescue and relief work should be done in a timely manner to reduce the damage incurred by flood disasters to a minimum, it said, calling for facility renovation work to improve the disaster-proof capacities of cultural heritage.

Heavy rainfall has been wreaking havoc across wide swathes of China since this year's flood season started, triggering floods and causing severe casualties and losses.