The Imperial Palace in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, has been approved as an extension of cultural sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO at an international heritage conference Thursday.

The decision came at the 28th conference of the World Heritage Committee being held in Suzhou, a scenic city in east China's Jiangsu Province.

The Shenyang Imperial Palace, covering 46,000 square meters, is the only imperial construction compounds kept intact besides Beijing's Forbidden City in China. It was first built in 1625 during the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2004)