The Chinese government has allocated more than a quarter of a billion yuan to maintaining commemorative sites of the Red Army, as part of the 70th anniversary of the Long March.

Forty-one national key memorials for Long March martyrs have received at least 260 million yuan (US$32.5 million) for maintenance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs told Xinhua on Thursday.

The sites were located in 18 provinces and regions, including six in east China's Jiangxi Province, one of China's revolutionary bases, said Dai Aijiao, of the ministry's special care and placement department.

Maintenance would be carried out on monuments, memorial halls, pagodas and pavilions of Red Army martyrs which were poorly preserved, aiming to build a solemn and instructive atmosphere with clear themes.

The work is scheduled to be completed by October 22, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Finance.

The Long March was a famous military maneuver carried out by the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army from 1934 to 1936 led by the Communist Party of China to combat the Kuomintang regime.

Though many soldiers died on the way, the Red Army finally arrived at Yan'an in western Shaanxi Province after the 25,000-li (12,500-kilometer) trek, where the new headquarters of CPC was established.

Last year the government spent 30 million yuan (US$3.75 million) to renovate 44 commemorative sites for martyrs of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945).

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2006)