China is likely to invest a handsome 80 million yuan (9.6 million US dollars) annually to protect cultural relics on the ancient Silk Road, said a cultural heritage official from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Sheng Chunshou, head of the Xinjiang regional bureau of Cultural Heritage, said that the State Administration of Cultural Heritage had promised to allocate the funds and his bureau had submitted plans regarding the use of the money, Wednesday's China Daily reported.

According to Sheng, more than 4,000 cultural heritage sites in Xinjiang and more than a dozen along the Silk Road demand immediate maintenance.

The Road connected imperial China to the Roman Empire approximately 2,000 years ago and is widely regarded as a symbol of communications between China and Europe.

A senior official from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced here Tuesday that China will use 250 million yuan (some 30 million US dollars) each year to maintain sites of historical significance.

Source: Xinhua