Rock painting at Huashan Mountain in Guangxi province [File photo]

The World Heritage Committee ended its meeting on Wednesday and announced it will hold its next session in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 10-20, 2016. Two Chinese sites will seek World Heritage status at that time.

According to the Chinese delegation at the meeting, a rock painting on Huashan Mountain in Guangxi province will be submitted for World Cultural Heritage, while Shennongjia Natural Reserve in Hubei province will become the 2016 Chinese candidate for World Natural Heritage.

Located on the west bank of the Mingjiang River in Yaoda town, Ningming county, the rock painting dates to the ancient Luoyue people of the Zhuang nationality and has a history of 1,800 to 2,500 years.

The Chinese State Administration of Cultural Heritage has confirmed that the rock painting will represent China in its application for World Heritage status in 2016, with a draft also submitted to UNESCO's world heritage center for approval this January.

Shennongjia Natural Reserve, as a world geo-park rated and selected by UNESCO and a member of the UNESCO MAB (Man and the Biosphere) Program, is famous for its abundant and diversified geological relics, primitive and natural eco-environment and long-standing history and culture.

Preparation work on the application seeking World Heritage status for Shennongjia Natural Reserve began in August 2013. James Westvick Thorshell, a senior IUCN (the World Conservation Union) advisor to UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, was invited to visit the natural reserve and gave direction to the work in late May 2014.

To date, there are 54 Chinese properties submitted on the tentative list from 1996 to 2015, including many famous scenic spots such as the Lijiang River Scenic Zone at Guilin in Guangxi province, Yandang Mountain in Zhejiang province and Fenghuang Ancient City in Hunan province.