Practioner of paper-craft, one of the intangible heritage, Nie Fangjun and his pasted-paper lions are pictured in Fenghuang, central China's Hunan province on June, 2012. [Photo: Hunan Daily]

China will increase the allowance given to practioners of intangible heritage, as many practices are in danger of dying out, according to the Ministry of Culture (MOC) on Wednesday.

Allowances have been given to iconic figures of national-level intangible heritage practices since 2008. The minimum allowance, which currently starts at 8,000 yuan (1,235 U.S.dollars) per person per year, will be raised to 20,000 yuan per person per year, according to the MOC.

The allowance is designed to support pedagogic activities, and is not a living allowance.

Ma Shengde, an MOC official, said the increase would encourage leading figures to pass on their skills.

According to official figures, 295 out of 1,986 practitioners of national-level intangible heritage have passed away.

To prevent the practices from being forgotten, the MOC also started to collect detailed records of the practices and their leading practitioners.