VILNIUS, Lithuania, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The 30th session of the World Heritage Committee, slated for July 8-16, will consider establishing a special fund for heritage protection for African countries.

    The committee will explore ways of augmenting ability construction of the World Heritage Committee, Tian Xiaogang, secretary general of the National Commission of China for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said here Saturday.

    This includes the criteria of recommented program, national construction of heritage protection laws and setting up a special fund for Afrian countries to preserve heritages, he said at a news briefing.

    The Committee will also examine the situation of the heritage sites on the current List of World Heritage.

    Thirty-seven new sites, including two Chinese sites, will be proposed for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List at the session.

    The Committee will review 27 cultural sites, eight natural sites, two mixed sites and three transboundary sites presented by 30 countries, inlcuding China.

    The two Chinese sites are the Great Panda habitat in southwest.

    China's Sichuan Province and the ruins of the Shang Dynasty(16th-11th centuries B.C.) capital in Anyang city of central China's Henan Province.

    Finland, Nepal, Serbia and Sweden are applying for the extension of sites already inscribed. Enditem