BEIJING- China should apply for intangible world heritage protection for tai chi to popularize the traditional martial art, a political adviser in Central China has said.

Tai chi deserves the same popularity as China's Shaolin kungfu because it is another representation of unique Chinese culture, Lu Xiaopin, member of the Henan provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), told China News Service on Wednesday.

The application is an "urgent" matter for China, the birthplace of tai chi, as there have been reports that the Republic of Korea also intended to apply for UNESCO recognition of the martial art, Lu said.

There are an estimated 300 million practitioners of the traditional martial art around the world.

Wu Zuolai, a researcher at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, told China Daily that shadow boxing has gained increasing popularity due to China's rising soft power on the world stage.

Lei Luming, general manager of Wujitang, a Beijing-based shop retailing clothes for tai chi, said his shop has received more and more orders from foreign individuals and clubs in countries such as Canada and Germany.

"Now overseas orders account for 10 percent of our sales and they are increasing year on year," Lei said.

Wu also agreed that the honor of intangible world heritage will bring more financial support for the martial art's development.

"Tai chi is always practiced in a simplified version nowadays," Wu said, adding that the UNESCO protection will help promote research into tai chi and encourage further development and innovation.

Peking Opera and acupuncture were placed on UNESCO's Intangible World Heritage List during a five-day meeting in Nairobi in November 2010.

Applying for world heritage status increases people's awareness of, and enthusiasm for, their culture, said Ma Wenhui, a department director of the Ministry of Culture.

“太極拳作為中國原創(chuàng)、獨(dú)創(chuàng)的能夠集中體現(xiàn)中國傳統(tǒng)文化特征的文化形態(tài)，絕不能被他國貼上標(biāo)簽歸為己有。”河南省政協(xié)委員逯效顰19日接受本社記者專訪時稱，“太極”和“少林”是中國兩塊并駕齊驅(qū)的金字招牌，中華太極拳應(yīng)致力“申遺”。

太極拳是中國武術(shù)精粹，具有鮮明中華民族特色的文化符號，為明末清初河南省溫縣陳家溝人陳王廷所創(chuàng)，歷經(jīng)300余年，深得中國傳統(tǒng)“易”文化和“道”文化精髓。據(jù)不完全統(tǒng)計，包括中國在內(nèi)，全球150多個國家和地區(qū)練習(xí)太極拳者已近3億人。

“太極拳與業(yè)已列入‘世遺’的昆曲、古琴藝術(shù)具有同等的文化品格和文化價值，”逯效顰說，“‘太極’和‘少林’是中國兩塊并駕齊驅(qū)的金字招牌，但中華太極拳的影響力遠(yuǎn)不及少林功夫，使其盡快列入世界非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)名錄勢在必行。”

太極拳以其獨(dú)特的魅力為世人所推崇，被中國國家旅游局列為特種旅游項目和國家級非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)名錄。自1992年以來，陳家溝已成功舉辦多屆國際太極拳年會，每年吸引來自美國、德國、韓國、瑞典等全球100多個國家和地區(qū)的太極拳愛好者前來切磋拳技。

（中文新聞由中新社提供）