China has been carrying out a ten-year project to protect the Great Wall, said Tong Mingkang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

About 46 experts from 11 provinces, including Hebei, Gansu and Liaoning, convened at Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province to discuss the project last week.

The ten-year project aims to make clear the basic information about the Great Wall, map out specific protection plans, add funds for Great Wall protection and repair wall damage.

The Great Wall stretches for about 6,000 km, traversing Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Liaoning.

The wall's construction began during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), when separate sections were built in scattered strategic areas.

The latest finding shows the oldest Great Wall was built in the Qi State during the Spring and Autumn period (770 BC-476 BC). When Qinshihuang conquered all the other six states and became the first emperor of a unified China, he ordered his general, Meng Tian, to link the disparate parts of and extend the walls.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2006)