BEIJING, Oct. 28 -- The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has allocated 8.84 billion yuan (1.44 billion U.S. dollars) in special funds to support the protection of cultural heritage this year.

The state funding to cultural heritage protection was 14.35 percent higher than a year ago, according to the MOF on Tuesday.

About 92 percent of the total funding, or 8.13 billion yuan, went to 2,299 cultural heritage protection projects, including the Great Wall, the Great Canal and the Silk Road.

Another 663 million yuan of funding supported efforts to protect the non-tangible heritage items.