Xi'an, the capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province and home to numerous cultural relics and tourist destinations, has drawn up long-term plans to protect its city wall scenic area.

To maintain its unique style, the 3,000-year-old city will build a number of projects in coming years, Beijing-based newspaper China Daily reports on Friday.

There will be renovations of the ancient city wall, the moat and the circular park, and improvements to surrounding roads and lanes.

The Development Plan of Xi'an City Wall Scenic Area was discussed by an appraisal committee in the city early this week, the paper says.

"With the efforts to be made in the following 15 years, we hope our city wall scenic area can be listed as a World Cultural Heritage site," said Qiao Zheng, Xi'an's vice-mayor, who is in charge of urban planning and construction.

"From 2010 to 2020, some cultural relic markets, special themed museums, leisure and tourism blocks, religious cultural areas and arts and performance areas will be built in the city wall scenic area," said Xue Wuping, deputy director of Xi'an City Urban Construction Committee.

Xi'an plans to invest 10 billion yuan (US$1.23 billion) in urban construction projects in 2006, but Xue failed to say how much would be used for the city wall project.

Xi'an, one of China's ancient cities with more than 3,000 years of urban construction history, served as capital of 13 ancient dynasties over more than 1,000 years. The city's renowned ancient city wall, built in early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is the only well-protected such wall in China.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2006)