Preventive conservation, with its proactive, strategic, and cost-effective approach, has become a central strategy in the field of heritage conservation. In the Netherlands, the preventive conservation of heritage is characterized by an efficient and well-structured management framework, with key strategies and technical implementations reflected in several areas: protective organizational frameworks and policy guidance from regulatory systems; support from specialized technical and monitoring teams; professional and standardized daily care routines; the development of an efficient digital system for maintenance and diagnostic management; research and practical applications of conservation and environmental risk factors; and the promotion of heritage education and public engagement mechanisms. Currently, research and practice in preventive heritage conservation are at the stage of conceptual understanding and advocacy in China. There is a lack of a systematic policy and scientific approach, as well as insufficient effectiveness in the implementation of preventive conservation measures. This paper explores the Netherlands’ years of experience in preventive conservation of historical heritage. By implementing systematic policies and leveraging scientific and technological approaches, the country has developed an operational pathway that prioritizes minimal intervention for monitoring and maintenance while preserving the authenticity and integrity of historical heritage to the greatest extent possible. Through methods such as literature review, policy analysis and synthesis, and fieldwork, this paper provides an overview of the strategic framework and practical exploration of preventive conservation in the Netherlands. Taking the conservation practices of Leiden Fortress as a case study, it systematically summarizes the processes, methods, and characteristics of preventive conservation and offers practical recommendations based on comparative analysis.The operation of preventive conservation in the Netherlands is based on the government-led conservation organizational framework. The national level organization Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed(RCE) oversees the unified management of nationally designated cultural relics and monuments, while each province has its own provincial heritage institutions and other independent organizations. At the municipal level, each city has been responsible for the maintenance of cultural relics and monuments within its jurisdiction since 1988. This hierarchical and specialized structure for monument conservation forms a clear workflow and an interconnected system. In terms of legal provisions and policy support, the Netherlands has enacted laws that establish a heritage registration system and mandate the maintenance of historic monuments. The conservation policy is further reinforced by stable annual funding, provided by both the government and social organizations. In terms of supervision and management system, regular inspection and timely maintenance are the cores of preventive conservation. Many significant monuments in the Netherlands are overseen by Monumentenwacht (MOWA) and are preserved by monument wardens. Composed of professionals, they are involved in all stages of conservation, including inspections, making recommendations, assisting with repairs, and conducting annual and quarterly inspections. Conservation technicalpractice encompasses various aspects, including material research, standardization of monitoring processes, field research, informatization diagnosis, damage surveillance, and risk prevention. The monitoring primarily focuses on the types, extent, and progression of physical, chemical, and biological damages to the monuments. Diagnostic and control plans are developed based on analyses of human activities and environmental risks. In the development of conservation technology, efforts are primarily focused on collaborating with research and educational institutions to implement conservation projects such as the Monument en Kennis. It promotes the development of informatization diagnosis and cloud platform. The direct outcome is the Monument Diagnosis and Conservation System(MDCS), setting up an online damage atlas database for the professional and the public. The monitoring process also helps to complete the monument database. The damages are classified by materials including brick, mortar, natural stone, plaster and concrete, with pictures and caption. Damage surveillance and risk prevention play a crucial role in ensuring that monuments remain in good condition, making them key aspects of conservation technology. Through inspection, it shows that the main damages of Leiden Fortress are cracks, deposit, deformation, powdering, biological growth, etc. The monitoring and recording of the fortress primarily focus on the location, width, and length of cracks, the distance and direction of deposition, the location and severity of encrustation, and the location and extent of biological growth. These damages arise from the physical characteristics of the monument itself, as well as natural environmental risks. Therefore, preventive conservation also includes research into optimal environmental conditions. The Netherlands is one of the earliest practitioners of preventive conservation in the modern sense. The preventive conservation strategy runs throughout the entire process of monument and heritage preservation and management. Its philosophy of addressing potential issues before they arise resonates with the core principles and requirements of historical buildings conservation in China. Finally, the paper proposed that China’s monument conversation and management will draw on the experiences of the Netherlands to put forward preventive conservation strategies. It is recommended that the conservation system be enhanced in the following ways: implementing mandatory regulatory management, developing professional teams, standardizing daily operations, establishing information platforms, conducting more in-depth conservation research, and prioritizing heritage education and public outreach.