BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- China has spent three million yuan (about 385,000 US dollars) repairing the Jewish cemetery in the city of Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Liu Xinming, an official in charge of cemetery management confirmed here Tuesday.

    The repair project coincides with the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is a son of a former Jewish resident of China.

    Olmert's grandparents moved to Harbin, from Russia to flee persecution in the late 19th century. Olmert's parents grew up in Harbin before moving to Israel.

    "The Chinese culture is part of my heritage and part of my earliest memories as a young kid in the state of Israel," Olmert said in a interview before heading to China.

    Harbin has made strenuous efforts to protect the Harbin Jewish Cemetery, which covers 836 square meters and has about 600 tombs, Liu said, adding that they had redesigned parts of the cemetery after consulting with the Israeli embassy in China and Jewish people who used to live in China.

    According to Liu, the cemetery is also working on a project to offer online services to the offspring of former Jewish residents who want to find their "China roots".

    The number of Jewish people living in Harbin topped 25,000 in the 1920s, the largest Jewish community in East Asia at that time. They developed a complete social system of their own and were called the "Harbin Jews".

    Harbin and other Chinese cities such as Shanghai also became home to Jewish people fleeing Europe's Nazi holocaust.

    In the minds of "Harbin Jews" and their descendants, who now live all over the world, Harbin is a place of rebirth and a hometown. As famous Israeli photographer Sara Ross wrote in a photo album she presented to Harbin: "Harbin enriched our childhood, gave us hope and happiness in our youth and guaranteed us the greatest dignity."