Millions of dollars have been granted by the World Bank to northwest China's Gansu Province to help to conserve important cultural sites such as the Silk Road.

The equivalent of £19.2 million is being loaned to the district which will also use the money to restore sections of the Great Wall.

Other tourist attractions which look set to benefit from the cash injection include nature reserves such as Mount Maiji, home to numerous grottos, temples, frescos and sculptures.

"We hope this project will become a model for Gansu and more broadly, for China," said project manager Mara Warwick, a senior urban environment specialist of the World Bank.

"The World Bank has extensive global and China experience to share in heritage protection, sustainable tourism, institutional development and financial management."

The Silk Road, which originally connected China with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, is so called because it was central to travellers and tradesmen selling their wares - including silk.

It extends over 8,000 km on land and sea and was said to have first been used as a trade route during the Han Dynasty in around 114 BC.

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