Chinese officials and culture experts have selected an initial list of 48 historical sites along the country's section of the Silk Road for the joint application temples, burial sites and remains of ancient cities. "The Silk Road in China spans thousands of kilometers and links 5000-year history of Chinese civilization. It is full of Chinese culture," said Shan Jixiang, president of China State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

"We have been preparing to apply for several years, and the conditions are now right to start the process," said Yang Lian, an archeologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

China is also applying to UNESCO to include an old sea-going trade route that once hugged its shores for similar status.

Some claim the so-called "Silk Road on the Sea" is older than its overland namesake, following the discovery of shipwrecks and other finds in recent decades.

The recovery of the Nanhai 1 in late 2007 in South China Sea – a Song Dynasty wreck that had been buried underwater for 800 years – initiated the recent application.

The ship is believed to have plied the navigation, which began in southern China and hugged the coast of Indochina, passed through the Strait of Malacca where it entered the Indian Ocean and navigated the coast to the Persian Gulf.

Guangdong Province in Southern China has earmarked 150 million yuan ($ 20.3 million) to build a Maritime Silk Road Museum – to be opened this year – to preserve the salvaged ship.