Preparations for the 28th conference of the World Heritage Committee are going smoothly, said vice mayor of Suzhou, the host city in east China's Jiangsu Province, Saturday.

Suzhou has also gotten ready to officially apply for World Heritage status for the old town of Suzhou at the conference slated for June 28-July 7, said Vice Mayor Zhu Yongxin.

Zhu said the city has decided to invest 6 billion yuan (US$723 million) this year for the protection of the old town, mainly to divert water from Taihu Lake and the Yangtze River to replenish the waterway systems of the old town.

"All factories in the old town will be moved out over the next three years," he said.

Suzhou ranks the third among Chinese cities in terms of the possession of state- and province-level cultural relics. More than 100 ancient buildings in the city remain intact.

Ancient gardens of Suzhou entered the World Heritage list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1997. Kunqu opera, a local art form, entered UNESCO's list of "masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity" in 2001.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2004)