NANCHANG, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has donated 3 million yuan (439,200 U.S. dollars) to protect Mount Lushan, a world natural and cultural heritage site in east China, the mountain administration said Wednesday.

    The environmental protection program will focus on studying cultural scenic spots, waste water treatment and repairing old buildings in Lushan, Lushan administration director Zheng Xiang told Xinhua.

    "Under the help of Mercedes-Benz and the UNESCO, we'll find out technologies to provide clean water for residents and maintain sustainable development of tourism."

    Part of the donations will be spent repairing more than 600 tumble-down villas with Russian, British, American, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Portuguese styles built by foreigners before the 1920s on the mountain.

    Before the program of Mount Lushan, Mercedes-Benz had made donations to protect the habitat of giant pandas in southwestern Sichuan Province and karst topography in southern China.

    Mount Lushan was included in the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ) list of the world's natural and cultural heritage sites in December 1996.