Six Chinese areas have been added to the United Nations list of World Geoparks, the Ministry of Land and Resources announced on Tuesday.

Mount Tai in Shandong, Mount Wangwu and Nanyang Funiushan in Henan, Fangshan in Beijing, Leiqiong Geoparks (Volcanic Geoparks) in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, and Jingbo Lake in Heilongjiang had been listed as World Geoparks by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

A spokesperson for the ministry said China had 18 World Geoparks and 138 national geological parks and would make great efforts to protect and develop them.

These sites reflected the Earth's geological history, events and processes over its 4.6 billion years of evolution.

In order to boost local economies and protect geological heritage, UNESCO launched the program in 1999 to establish a total of 500 geological parks with 20 parks every year.

Source: Xinhua