BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has stepped up efforts in protecting the cultural relics in the Tibet Autonomous Region, spending more than 300 million yuan (39 million U.S. dollars) in 2006 for the conservation of some valuable sites, an official said here Thursday.

    The fund was used to renovate some prestigious Tibetan relic sites such as the Potala Palace, Norbu Lingka and Sagya Monastery, said Shan Jixiang, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, on the sidelines of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

    Statistics show that around 2,000 cultural relic sites exist in Tibet, among which 35 are under State-level protection and 216 of them under various levels of government protection.

    Despite increasing conservation fund, culture relics protection in Tibet faces great challenges posed by growing number of tourists to Tibet, Shan said.

    "It is urgent to protect the important culture heritage in Tibet given the tourists flood in Tibet through the Qinghai-Tibetan railway," Shan said.

    He suggested that the central government continue to increase investment for cultural relics protection and infrastructure construction in Tibet. Particularly, a special institution with a special funding is needed for the conservation of the top ten items of Tibetan culture heritage.

    "An office should be set up to work out practical conservation plans and budget evaluation for the top ten Tibetan culture heritage items," said Shan.

    Among them, the Zhaibung Monastery and Panchen Lama's residence in Xigaze symbolize the development of Tibetan religion. Jokhang temple, Tibetan Buddhism's holiest site, proves that Tibet is an inseparable part of China. Naining temple witnessed the historical moment when all nationalities of Tibet resisted foreign invasion, and Lhagyari Palace showed the development of Tibetan local political power.