BEIJING, March 21 -- China has added 1,336 traditional villages to the state protection list amid efforts to promote heritage conservation, according to a notice from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The ministry, together with five other government organs, has so far brought a total of 8,155 traditional villages under state protection in six batches.

The ministry urged the localities to establish and improve the archives of traditional villages, and guide the villages to draw up protection plans to strengthen the protection and utilization of the villages, according to the notice.

China launched a survey of traditional villages in 2012. Thanks to years of continuous effort, by 2020, the country had successfully brought 539,000 historic buildings and traditional dwellings under protection, and inherited and developed 4,789 items of intangible cultural heritage at or above the provincial level.