JINAN, July 11 -- An Archeology China program launched in 2017 now includes 18 major archaeology projects, according to a national conference held on Tuesday by the National Cultural Heritage Administration in Jinan, the capital city of east China's Shandong Province.

The projects are in various fields of archeological study, including the origins of humans, agriculture and civilization, and the development of a unified multiethnic country, according to the conference.

It said that over the past seven years, the results of major archeology projects have provided evidence for the origins and development of the Chinese civilization, and of the formation of a unified multi-ethnic Chinese nation.

It also discussed the achievements of underwater archeology and cultural heritage protection work, including the archeological excavation of the sunken ship Nanhai (South China Sea) No. 1 and an exploration of the wreck sites of several Chinese battleships that sank in the First Sino-Japanese War during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912).

An increasing number of Chinese archeologists have been participating in international archaeology projects in recent years, the conference said. A total of 32 Chinese archeology institutions have been involved in 36 cooperative projects, establishing good relationships with over 40 foreign research institutions and museums.

Archeology has increased in popularity among the Chinese people with the help of public communication initiatives, including television programs and China's annual release of its top 10 archeological discoveries in a given year, according to the conference.