Botched Great Wall repair uses illegal cement

Repair work of a section of China's Great Wall used cement violating the country's Great Wall protection law, according to reports.

Wild Great Wall before the restoration

Last week, photos circulated online of a "wild" stretch of the Great Wall in northeastern China's Liaoning Province which had been apparently turned into a flat smooth concrete path, raising an outcry among citizens taking a pride in the Great Wall as a symbol of Chinese history and culture.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage said Tuesday the repair project "used a slight amount of cement" and that a stretch of wall of 780m long had received a coating involving a mixture of lime, clay and sand to "flatten the trail."

The project manager and local cultural relics official had previously denied using cement, but the Beijing News and Xinhua reported that local villagers had been paid to carry cement between 2013 and 2014 to repair the wall.

Great Wall-related laws and regulations prohibit the use of cement in repair and stipulate that the Great Wall should be repaired under the principle of "not changing its original state."

Those responsible for the project will be held accountable, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said.