Business-oriented promotion of the Shaolin Temple and its renowned martial arts will help Shaolin culture grow in fame around the globe, a political adviser said yesterday.

"We (Shaolin monks) will keep practicing a market-oriented transformation of the Shaolin Temple to protect the legacy of traditional martial arts and Zen Buddhism, which is also in line with China's social system," said Shaolin abbot Shi Yongxin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top advisory body.

When the monks raise money for the temple they aren't doing it simply for themselves, but as a symbol of their responsibility in carrying forward Shaolin culture, Shi said. "If I failed, history would remember me as a sinner."

Shi said he would raise a proposal concerning the development of the Shaolin Temple during the 12-day Fifth Session of the 10th CPPCC National Committee.

Shi, head of the 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng City of central China's Henan Province, has sought to shed the reclusive reputation of the temple since he was appointed abbot in 1987 at the age of 22.

In 1994, he played a leading role in registering "Shaolin" and "Shaolin Temple" as trademarks, and established a company for managing relevant intellectual property.